By Daily Sports on January 30, 2018

Chelsea's manager Antonio Conte cut an interesting figure when his club scored their first goal through embattled striker Michy Batshuayi on Saturday in their English FA Cup match at home to Newcastle. It was a figure that was interesting by its almost non-activity at a goalscoring moment that would have provoked two raised fist and feels, jumping into the arms of a member of his coaching staff and, or, running into fans in mad celebrations.

Chelsea went on to sweep a sorry Newcastle aside 3-0 but this was a more muted Conte, in a season that has so far proven much more difficult than last when his team swashbuckled their way to the title in grand style after a testing start.

This season has seen Chelsea having to contend with Champions League fixtures, a challenge which they didn’t have in the last year and the depth of their squad has become a veritable tool for talking points.

It is somehow painful and wince-worthy to see manager Conte straining to convey a public message to the club’s board about the strength in depth of his playing staff, while the club continue to maintain that their transfer policy have reflected the recommendations of their Italian manager.

The Italian is already contemplating his sack from the club. He said just before the Newcastle match:

I saw a bit the history of this club in the past and it was the same also for the other coaches. I don’t see a difference between me and other coaches that managed this situation.

“If I remember, at the start of the season, I said maybe this will be the most difficult season for me. I think that I have a great capacity to see very long [into the future].

“This is a great capacity I have. But we must be focused and give everything and know that we have to face great difficulties. If you know this, you are more ready to face this type of situation.”

Conte was asked whether he had come to realise what it was like for his predecessors.

“As I said before, my only worry is to work very hard but, for sure, if you look at the stats, you can see that in 14 years, 10 managers were sacked in this club. The stats are this. But, at the same time, when you are sure about your work and that you are doing everything to improve this club – I am very relaxed and I don’t have this type of worry.”

The stats Conte is referring to shows a club that is impulsive in making decisions to coaches when a season doesn’t pan out well. While Chelsea have usually enjoyed the seasonal bounce of hiring a new manager, there hopefully would be now a realisation that some stability is needed and, instead of thinking of pulling the trigger on Conte if he fails to deliver a trophy this season, a more nuanced approach involving putting heads together with the manager to find solutions towards making the next season better is a more sensible and classy thing to do.

But such lines of thought depend on the personalities involved in running the club. When people do jobs they are not paid to do, and when some persons at the top echelons of clubs think getting another manager at the first signs of crisis is the solution to deep lying problems, then the seeds of instability would continue to fester and the merry go round will continue.

Conte could not have been a bad manager suddenly. He may be loud about certain things that an Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, for instance, would swallow, but the concerns he raises about how best to move Chelsea forward should be giving good heed. 

Source Daily Sports

Posted January 30, 2018

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