Antonio Conte will mark a year in charge of Tottenham next week but after yesterday's dispiriting defeat to Newcastle he insisted: "We have only just started."
In a direct post-match interview, Conte offered a sobering assessment of Spurs' progress and their readiness to challenge, suggesting there is still a major rebuild ahead and warning his critics to get real.
“If someone thinks we can invent the win and do a miracle... we need to continue to work," Conte said. "We have just started the process. If someone doesn’t want to listen, it is not my problem."
For the second game running, after Wednesday's defeat by Manchester United, the head coach claimed he was happy with the "commitment" of his players, but suggested he simply does not have the squad to compete in the Premier League and Champions League every three to four days.
Spurs were missing a key quartet against the Magpies, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cristian Romero succumbing to muscle problems and joining Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison on the sidelines.
"This squad doesn’t allow [me] to lose four players," Conte said. "If we played one game every six or seven days, I think we could fight for something important."
Conte has not previously been so frank about his side's inability to compete on two fronts, and his comments perhaps go some way to explaining the decline in performances from the second half of last season, when they were not in Europe.
Oliver Skipp, starting for the first time since January, helped to mask the absence of Hojbjerg, who had started the previous 32 matches in all competitions.
But Romero, Kulusevski and Richarlison were more sorely missed, and the drop off in technical quality to their replacements is striking, supporting Conte's argument.
That said, Emerson Royal, a favourite of the Italian, was ineffective again and there remain uncomfortable questions about Spurs' style of play this season, as well as Conte's unwillingness to rotate, which has left his side looking jaded.
Both Newcastle's goals came from preventable defensive lapses, with Callum Wilson controversially capitalising on questionable judgement from Hugo Lloris, and the goalkeeper, Ryan Sessegnon and Clement Lenglet all poor for Miguel Almiron's excellent second.
Conte has never previously been a project coach and a long rebuild raises the possibility that his head could be turned before the job is through
Conte's assessment of his squad puts the club's summer transfer window, which was widely considered a success, in a more negative light and suggests another ruthless clear-out could be on the cards for January. Conte does not trust several members of his squad, and more signings of the quality of last January's additions Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, who was excellent yesterday, would be transformative.
"It's impossible to do everything in July, we tried in July with two or three good signings," Conte said. "We need to go step by step and have time and patience and have two or three transfer markets to bring this squad to be competitive to play in two competitions like Premier League and Champions League."
Conte has previously said he could be Spurs' own Jurgen Klopp and the fact that he is thinking long-term is encouraging. The head coach struggled to control his emotions after defeats last season but this term he has been more accepting of bad results, an indication that he has come to terms with the club's position and the scale of the job.
But Conte has never previously been a project coach and a long rebuild raises the possibility that his head could be turned before the job is through.
He has previously dismissed the importance of his contract, suggesting that the only thing that matters is Spurs' direction of travel and his shared "vision" with chairman Daniel Levy and managing director Fabio Paratici.
A penny, too, for Harry Kane's thoughts. The England captain continued his good form with his 10th League goal of the season, stooping to head home a flicked-on corner at the back post in what is fast becoming a trademark finish.
Kane is out of contract at the end of next season and his camp has indicated a willingness to discuss a new long-term deal provided Spurs continue to show ambition and challenge for silverware. But Kane will be 30 in July, and has been told to be patient ever since he broke into the first team nearly a decade ago.
Conte's belief that Spurs are still two to three transfer windows from challenging will surely give him pause for thought.
Spurs have been braced for a painful rebuild ever since the final years of Mauricio Pochettino's tenure but the appointment of a proven winner in Conte, an encouraging top-four finish and a seemingly positive summer transfer window raised hopes among fans that the club was close to returning to the top.
Evidently, Conte does not want to raise expectations unduly and his comments read like a reality check during a difficult week for the club.
