Conte likes a crunch meeting with Spurs’ powers-that-be. He speaks with the club’s managing director of football Fabio Paratici every day during the season and chairman Daniel Levy most days but sometimes you just need a good old fashioned sit down to set out your stall. Similar was meant to happen at the end of last season only for Conte’s future to resolve itself with the Champions League qualification and in the end the head coach only needing to meet with Paratici in Italy to discuss transfer targets. This time all three men are likely to be involved in some capacity in the meeting when Conte returns to Hotspur Way.
Antonio Conte said: “Honestly until now we didn’t speak but for sure after the first part of the season it’s right to have a meeting with the club and then to discuss about the positives things, the negatives things and how we can improve. Then we’ll see what we can do. It depends always on the possibilities of the club and also the ambition, but for sure we’ll speak. We’ll speak also to have a good evaluation about this first part of the season where I’ve seen a lot of positive things, but you know injuries and to play every three days, I think we struggled a lot. In future we have to try to improve, to be better to face this type of situation. This would be a good way in my opinion. Then we know very well we have to discuss with the club to make the right decision.”
Antonio Conte added: “For sure, every time we speak together they’re always good conversations, because there is only one target: to try to improve, to improve the club in every aspect. On and outside the pitch. Then to find the best solution in every moment. I think until now we worked only with this target: to improve. To improve and to find a good way to bring this club to be competitive, you understand, but I’m understanding very well this year that it’s not easy. It’s not easy because you can improve but at the same time you have other teams continuing to improve and go forward. Like us or much more than us, because maybe they have more situations or more possibility [to improve], sometimes. For this reason it will be very important to speak, it will be very important to have a good conversation and understand if we’re satisfied with the work we’re doing after one year in this first period of this season. And then to understand very well what is the realistic possibility for us, which are the realistic ambitions for the club, because I think the truth is very important. It’s very important and we need, the club and me, to know the truth, because if you know the truth, you can work to find the best solution for the future.”
Conte will set out his needs for the January transfer window if Spurs want to improve in the second half of the season and he’ll be told in return what is realistic.