Antonio Conte is nothing if not dramatic in defeat but the Tottenham manager sounded like a man who was preparing to throw in the towel after last night’s loss at Burnley.
In an explosive post-match press conference, Conte suggested he may not be the right man for the job and said he would have to talk to chairman Daniel Levy and managing director Fabio Paratici about the “unacceptable” situation following a fourth defeat in five Premier League games – form which he warned could drag Spurs into a relegation battle.
His comments were unprompted, coming from just two questions, and he said similar in separate interviews with television and radio.
Conte cannot accept losing and this was not the first time he has responded dramatically to a Spurs defeat.
Levy and particularly Paratici would have known all about Conte’s demanding and emotional persona when he was hired but could never have expected him to hint at quitting after just four months.
Clearly, Conte has found a far worse situation at Spurs than he anticipated and it is increasingly clear that the scale of the club’s necessary rebuild was beyond him at the start of November.
Perhaps he assumed his well-established genius would quickly see a mismanaged and under-coached squad transformed, as happened when he succeeded Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.
Instead, he has improved performances but not results, and found a group full of middling or unsettled players and a club that still cannot match their rivals’ spending.
He has already warned of a long road ahead and last night he appeared to openly question whether he has the patience or desire for a three-or-four-year cycle of building.
Many managers prefer not to do media in the immediate aftermath of defeats when emotions are still raw, and Conte may be calmer this morning.
It still seems unlikely he would walk away now, and to do so would reflect as poorly on him as the club, proving that he had either failed to do his due diligence on Spurs or that he simply lacks the patience for the job.
He has a contract until the end of next season and there are currently no obvious vacancies for him elsewhere.
There is still the worrying prospect of a frustrated Conte sulking his way through to the end of the season or even the end of his contract, souring the mood with every bad result.
That said, some of his comments last night could be read as a determined rallying cry or at least an attempt to pile further pressure on the club to completely overhaul his squad in the summer.
Conte has the backing of supporters, and his outburst is likely to intensify the heat on the ownership as much as on the head coach himself.
But while honest, who do Conte’s comments really serve?
They are likely to further damage the fragile confidence of his players, and strain his relationship with Levy and Paratici. They also ensure that his future will again dominate the agenda in the coming days, unsettling Spurs' preparations for Saturday’s crisis match at Leeds.
What are the squad and Levy thinking today, particularly as on Saturday, after the sensational win at Manchester City, Conte said this was the best group of players he had worked with?
Conte has created a rod for his own back, and in doing so appeared petulant and unprofessional; he is brilliant but not blameless for Spurs’ current form.
He is also not the first elite manager to inherit an average squad – Jurgen Klopp walked into a similar situation at Liverpool – and Spurs’ problems were never going to be fixed by one transfer window.
There are huge questions about Levy’s leadership, but so far Conte has been given two players who have noticeably improved his first XI. The true test of the club’s ambition was always likely to come in the summer.
In the meantime, Conte would do well to keep schtum and get on with the job without the drama and mood swings, particularly as a place in the top four still remains achievable.
Conte, at least, practices what he preaches. Ahead of last night’s 1-0 loss, he spoke passionately about how his players should react in defeat, saying the atmosphere must not be the same following wins and losses.
True to his word, Conte has ensured the mood at Spurs has dramatically shifted again, with searing questions over where the coach and the club go from here.
