Antonio Conte has moved to calm fears he could quit Tottenham, insisting he is committed to the club and has the full backing of chairman Daniel Levy.
In a dramatic press conference following Wednesday’s defeat at Burnley, Spurs’ fourth loss in five Premier League games, Conte suggested he may not be the right man for the job and said he wanted talks with Levy and managing director Fabio Paratici over the “unacceptable” situation.
His comments led to further speculation that Conte could walk away from the job after just four months and before the end of his contract, which runs until the summer of 2023.
“Daniel Levy knows very well that I’m here to help the club in every moment and will help the club until the end,” Conte said ahead of Saturday's crunch visit to Leeds. “This is the reality and [Daniel] knows this and knows that we are working very hard and he has great consideration about my job and we speak.
“I want to help the club in every aspect – with my vision and my ideas about football, for improvement. And I repeat, [there is] no problem. He shows me great consideration every day and for this reason I am committed for this club much more because I know that the consideration of the club for myself is very high.”
Conte added that Levy is under no illusions about the club's situation and says the chairman is happy with the job he is doing.
“The club is the first to know our real situation and the club confirmed to me they know the reality," the Italian continued. “The club is very happy about my work, about what we are doing with my staff. The change that we brought in these four months in this club, in the training ground, in this environment. I’m sure the club is appreciating a lot what we are doing.
“But the problem is I am a perfectionist and I know very well the improvement that my work will bring in the future. But at the same time I’m a person wants to reach a result quickly and when I lose, I don’t stay so happy. This way brought me the success in my career as a player and as a coach.”
Conte admitted to having mixed feelings about the Spurs job, saying he was enjoying the challenge of rebuilding the club but admitting he would have preferred to walk into a more stable situation.
He insisted, though, that his outburst at Turf Moor was evidence of his commitment to the job, rather than an indication that he is genuinely considering throwing in the towel.
“For me [working for Spurs] is a fantastic experience, it is an experience for sure more difficult than the past,” Conte added. “Here is a great experience because you have to build from the foundations and on one hand it could be very good to be totally involved in building a new structure, a strong structure.
“On another hand, for sure there is the will to have a [stronger] situation already made, already ready to fight to win but it’s OK. I repeat I like to work, I’m enjoying my time in Tottenham and I’m showing to enjoy this time in Tottenham, especially when I show the disappointment after a defeat because it means I felt this commitment for this club.
“Others can think, ‘Yeah we win, tomorrow we lose’, one day have to go and he doesn’t care. No, I want to leave something important for this club. Sometimes I’m very clear with my emotion and when I show my emotion.”
The Italian went some way towards explaining and apologising for his comments on Wednesday, suggesting raw emotions in the aftermath of another defeat had been a factor.
“For sure, when you lose a game, I’m not the person to have dinner with,” he said. “When I lose a game my mood is very bad, I prefer to stay alone and metabolise the defeat. For sure, I need one day to recover – at least.
“It’s me. I don’t like to lose. If you ask me what I hate in life, it’s to lose games. My mentality is to prepare myself, to prepare my players, my team and to avoid this type of situation because I suffer. There are many coaches that don’t suffer.
“Sometimes I envy this person because, I wanted to be a little soft but at the same time to be this way makes me a person that in his career I won before as a player and then as a coach.
“For sure when I lose, if you expect that I am happy or to come to a press conference and laugh, I am not this person. I am sorry if I show my disappointment because maybe it would be good to keep this inside and not show my emotion. I am an honest person, it is difficult for me to lie or hide the truth and for this reason sometimes after a loss my mood is not top. Sorry for this but I am this.”
Asked to articulate his vision for the club, Conte preferred to focus only on the here and now.
"In the present, we have to finish the season in the best possible way," he said. "We are working very hard and we deserve much more. The players at the club, especially our fans, deserve more than this. We try to do our best to make them happy."
