Ahead of Monday night’s Premier League home fixture against West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte gave an epic preview press conference yesterday. You can check your typical coachspeak platitudes and press conferenceisms at the door, because they weren’t a part of this session.
Conte called out the media for negative coverage; claiming that the press are greatly exacerbating the struggles of the defending champions this season. He also said that the club hierarchy would be “stupid” if they were to sack to him this season.
Pressure has definitely been a reoccurring theme this season, and Antonio Conte has consistently alluded to it, maintaining that he’s an individual who thrives under it. Regarding the topic of his future at the club, Conte says the club would be “stupid” to part ways with him now.
“In my opinion, you continue to work with a manager or coach not because of what he achieves in one season, but because you trust in him, then you build something with him,” Conte posited.
The Blues boss stressed the values of stability and loyalty.
“But it doesn’t mean you have to win something, because that’s not simple — especially in England, it’s not simple. In my vision, you can win but, at the same time, the club might not be happy to stay with you. For this reason, it’s right to send the coach away. At the same time, you can trust in a coach and his work and continue with him even if you don’t win, and try and build something important.”
“There are two ways [to run a club]. There is a stupid way and an intelligent way.”
The follow up question to Conte was, naturally, which direction is Stamford Bridge going:
“This is my opinion. At the same time, I have great respect for every opinion. If the club decides to send me away, I don’t know when, it’ll be because they’re not happy with my work,” he responded.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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