Can’t interfere with Antonio Conte as he does things his way, claims Jamie Redknapp
Football pundit Jamie Redknapp has praised Tottenham for appointing Antonio Conte but has asked the club to give the Italian the time and the money to play the football he wants to. The former Chelsea boss replaces Nuno Espirito Santo, less than four months after he reportedly rejected Spurs.
With Nuno Espirito Santo losing his job on Monday, Tottenham had no shortage of replacements with the managerial pool filled with choices. However, the club were reportedly looking at Paulo Fonseca, Sergio Conceicao and Antonio Conte as their top choices with the Italian reportedly in the lead. That was soon confirmed by the fact that Spurs appointed the former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss, with him signing an eighteen month contract with an option to extend.
He becomes the club’s third manager in three years, following Jose Mourinho and Nuno, and it has seen a sense of excitement envelop North London. However, while Jamie Redknapp praised the appointment, he also warned Tottenham that the club needs to give Conte the licence and freedom in order to help him thrive. He also added that Spurs are the “laughing stock of football” right now and Conte will definitely change that.
"I'm sure a lot of Tottenham fans will be delighted with Conte - he is a first-class manager and a serial winner, he did an incredible job with Chelsea and Inter Milan, so he knows the game inside out. He is a brilliant signing for them. I do not understand why after four months you could get him, but you could not four months ago - there was a problem with the transfer budget and he could not agree with what Daniel Levy wanted to do with the club,” Redknapp told Sky Sports.
"When you have a manager like Conte, you have to give him the licence to get the players in that he wants and to play the system he wants, you can't interfere, he does things his way. He has worked with Tottenham's director of football [Fabio Paratici] before at Juventus, so that is important as that has to work, they have to marry up together and make sure they are pulling in the same direction, otherwise it can be a disaster.
"And right now, on the field Tottenham are the laughing stock of football, off field they are the envy of everyone because of the stadium and the training ground, but they are making a lot of mistakes in that boardroom,” he added.