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After Conte chaos, more managers who slated their clubs

Conte chaos

Football

After Conte chaos, more managers who slated their clubs

After Conte chaos, more managers who slated their clubs

Antonio Conte might be one of the most successful football managers in world football. But despite his accomplishments, the Tottenham manager is known for flipping his wig when he doesn’t get his own way.

After Conte’s Spurs squandered a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, the coach was incandescent. And not shy about castigating those he felt had let him down.

Blaming Spurs’ shortcomings on selfish players, a long-running culture of underachievement, and even the owners, Conte took potshots at pretty much everyone connected with the club.

Well, with one notable exception. If the culture of the club is really that calamitous, the manager seems the primary candidate to fix this failing.

Conte doesn’t seem to have considered his own responsibility when discussing his side’s shortcomings, however. In any case, in the wake of the Spurs’ boss going ballistic, here’s some more football managers who declined the diplomatic approach.

Jose Mourinho

It’s surely no surprise to see Jose heading a list of curmudgeonly coaches.

Mou’s moans are nothing new. It’s fair to say they seem to have become more regular in the last decade or so, however. During his third season with Real Madrid in 2012, the Portuguese complained he “didn’t have a team” after his side were beaten by Sevilla.

Since then, he’s called his Chelsea players “mentally weak”, criticised Luke Shaw for “the way he trains, the focus, the ambition” during his time as Man Utd boss, and also accused Shaw, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford of “lacking maturity”.

And of course, Mou’s relationship with Paul Pogba was famously strained. The United boss make Pogba captain, only to take the captaincy away weeks later – adding that Pogba would “never again” be captain while Mourinho was in charge.

More recently during his time with Roma, Mourinho said the Serie A side were “betrayed by a [unnamed] player with an unprofessional attitude”, and has also implied a lack of leadership on the pitch, claiming he is the team’s “one leader”. Following Roma’s defeat to Juventus recently, Mou also described his current side as “a bit too nice, a bit too weak”.

Brian Clough

Well known for his forthright views, Cloughie was often refreshingly honest. But telling a successful Leeds team how little he thought of their achievements immediately after taking charge of the club was not one of his more successful gambits.

Before taking the reins with the Yorkshire club, Clough had previously called for the side to be relegated as punishment for what he saw as their “dirty” tactics.

And after accepting the manager’s job with Leeds once Don Revie left to become England manager, Clough didn’t try to start with a clean slate. Instead, the manager reportedly announced himself by telling his new squad they should “throw their medals in the bin, because they weren’t won fairly”.

Unsurprisingly, an already unhappy bunch of players didn’t warm to the new man. Clough mustered one win from his eight games in charge, and was sacked after just 44 days.

Paolo di Canio

Di Canio’s quality as a coach might not match the level of some other names on this list. But when it comes to criticising his own clubs, the Italian definitely doesn’t come up short.

The former West Ham player made headlines for pushing a referee over during his playing career. He was no less controversial as a manager.

During his time with Swindon Town, Di Canio had a very public falling out with player Leon Clarke. Following the Robins’ League Cup defeat to Southampton, the two pushed and shoved one another in the tunnel. Clarke had only joined the club 10 days earlier.

Di Canio also told Swindon’s fans that if they were unhappy with his decisions, they could go support local rivals Oxford United. The Italian had previously said the derby between the two sides was “a bigger rivalry than Lazio and Roma”.

Di Canio banned laughter during his spell at Swindon Town

Perhaps that quote was simply evidence of Di Canio’s sense of humour – or perhaps not. The one-time self-confessed fascist also banned laughter during his regime at Swindon Town. And then ordered players to train seven days a week.

A move to Sunderland didn’t see any mellowing in Di Canio’s demeanour. The manager publicly fell out with Phil Bardsley after a photo emerged of the defender covered in £50 notes, following a trip to the casino. Di Canio reacted by banning the player from training with the rest of the squad.

In the same week, Di Canio banned mobile phones in the training ground, and declared ketchup and sugar off limits. He also fined another six players for indiscipline. Such was the size of the fines imposed, the players made formal complaints to the PFA.

Unsurprisingly, the Italian’s reign at Sunderland was brief. Di Canio joined in March 2013 and helped the side avoid relegation. But he was sacked one month into the new campaign, having earned a single point from the first five games.

Bardsley later said he was “loving playing under [new boss] Gus Poyet”, with Di Canio responding that Bardsley and Lee Cattermole “were rotten. The most unprofessional players I ever worked with”. Since leaving Sunderland, the Italian has not managed another club.

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