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Abramovich Will Pay The Price For Conte’s Poor Season

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‘You either do what he says or you don’t play.’ Those are the words of Andrea Pirlo about Antonio Conte during his spell as manager of Juventus. The quote is from Pirlo’s autobiography, I think, therefore I play.

Certainly, David Luiz would agree with that notion, Antonio Rudiger may also give Pirlo a nod of acceptance. Kenedy too, had his moment with the manager. It’s a case of being Conte’s way or the highway.

We don’t know how much of the above applies to Diego Costa. The Brazilian born Spanish international was clearly unsettled in London, but had Conte’s methodology driven him to seek a way out. His protracted exit from Chelsea finally ended on the 1st January, when Atletico Madrid were able secure his services after their transfer embargo had been lifted.

Chelsea’s Italian coach had a highly successful first season at Stamford Bridge, winning the Premier League title. His passion and enthusiasm quickly enamoured him to the Chelsea faithful. Naturally, Conte would expect to be given some kind of backing by those in power at Chelsea as he looked to strengthen his squad for another assault on the title.

Unfortunately Conte hadn’t read the small print in his contract. He must also have been unaware of how Chelsea’s managerial structure was operated in preceding years. Roman Abramovich’s ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ philosophy is short-sighted to say the least. Chelsea FC are built on short-termism though, and to be fair to the Russian, it has brought plenty of glory.

Conte has said all season that he is working with the players. It seems there’s now an acceptance that they players are not working with him and he will leave the club at the end of the campaign.

An Olivier Giroud inspired fightback at Southampton Saturday lunchtime, gave the supporters some hope that the season is not yet over. If the team can maintain the attitude of that final 20 minutes, then they are good enough to win all their remaining games. Conte is clear, it’s not all about him.

“I was a player, and the players must play every game, and not for me, but for the club, and for the fans,” Conte said.
“They must have great respect for this badge, they don’t have to play for the coach.
They have to play for the club, our fans, and to show great character like today. This is the best possible way for a player to be a fantastic professional.”

Source: Sky Sports

That is the most sensible thing Conte has said all season. The players owe it to the supporters to perform on the pitch. Where he’s wrong, though is in the fact it’s a shared responsibility between the manager and players to achieve for the fans. Sadly he’s failed in that respect this season.

Conte has sulked his way through the season and will pay the price in the summer, that is if you can call a £9m pay-off, paying the price.

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