Bookies have their say on Conte’s chances of succeeding at Spurs - and failing miserably

Paul Okey
3 November 2021

Antonio Conte Chelsea boss at Tottenham Aug17

New Tottenham boss will be looking to emulate his quickfire success at Chelsea and Juventus but even a top-four finish remains a long shot.

So, it just appears Nuno Espirito Santo was filling in for Antonio Conte while he enjoyed an extended summer holiday.

Everyone's a winner. Nuno because he earned a nice little pay-off and a shiny Manager of the Month trophy, Conte because his tan might last past December and Daniel Levy because he acted swiftly to appoint a manager (when in effect it actually took him almost seven months to replace Jose Mourinho).

Tottenham fans, still sore from celebrating winning the title in August, will be wary of false dawns. Actually, what am I saying? Win their first game - a gimme against Vitesse, surely? - and they'll be back on for a triple trophy haul.

So, as Conte leads his new side into an appetising run of fixtures, Planet Sport looks at just what the Italian can hope to achieve in his first season - and the odds on them happening.

Tottenham to win the Europa Conference League

Oh what a hero Conte will be as he guides Spurs from a seemingly impossible position to qualification from a Group of Death containing...er Rennes, Vitesse and NK Mura.

The 1-0 defeat to Vitesse has certainly livened up what should have been a comfortable passage for the north London club who currently sit third in the four-team group.

However, with Rennes and Vitesse both still to come to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, top spot is not out of reach.

A group win will put them into the last 16 and in with a chance of becoming the first ever winners of the European Conference League.

And as if that isn't enough of an incentive, the winners gain direct qualification to next season's Champions, no, Europa League. Win that and there's a 2023/24 Champions League place with your name on it.

Probably easier to try and finish fourth in the Premier League, which brings us to...

Tottenham to finish inside the Premier League top four

Conte is famed for gaining instant results, winning the league in his first season with Chelsea and Juventus and his second season with Inter.

However, it would be fair to say he had considerably more to work with early on than he does at Spurs.

Tottenham came into the current campaign on the back of a seventh-placed finish in 2020/21. The season before they finished above seventh-placed Wolves on goal difference. They currently lie a point off seventh ahead of Sunday's trip to Everton.

For all the criticism of Nuno and talk of Harry Kane misfiring, Spurs are where they usually are, miles off the the Champions League spots and within touching distance of seventh.

Tottenham to win the FA Cup

Five times Tottenham have won the FA Cup when the year has ended in a 1. Twice they have won it when the season ended in 2.

The only other time they won it was in 1967, the season after England reached a major final.

What does this tell us about their chances in 2022? Absolutely nothing of course, but Conte has won the FA Cup before with Chelsea and bolstered by an influx of new players in January, will give the competition plenty of respect.

And, with a swollen squad, even their second string will be more than a match for most.

Harry Kane to finish the Premier League's top goalscorer.

Someone joked on Twitter this week that the best way for Kane to engineer a move away from Tottenham would be to become their manager. And like all good jokes, there is an element of truth in it.

The summer's transfer saga has undoubtedly taken its toll on the striker, with the break afforded him after England's run to the final of Euro 2020 filled with never-ending rumour and conjecture.

It would be no surprise to learn the England skipper is drained.

At a club he doesn't want to be at and under a manager he didn't want to play under, he has looked listless and off the pace.

But then people were saying the same following his goalless group stage at the Euros and he responded with four goals in the knockout stages.

His relationship with Conte will be key, though.

Conte got the best out of Romelu Lukaku at Inter, turning the former Manchester United flop into a near £100million striker.

He also fell out with Diego Costa after the striker had helped fire Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2017, so it could go either way.

Antonio Conte to be the next Premier League manager to leave their post

For all the optimism swirling around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs have won just two of their last seven Premier League fixtures. And they were against sides in the bottom three - Burnley and Newcastle.

Quite simply, they are not very good.

Whether they will continue to be not very good with Conte at the helm is doubtful.

However, there is a reason Conte is reluctant to take on roles with the season under-way and that is down to transfers.

The Italian will have to wait until January at the earliest to bring his own men in. Until then he is going to have to make do with the side that lost 3-0 at home to Manchester United who had just lost 5-0 at home to Liverpool.

Will he become frustrated? Course he will. Will the fans become frustrated? Yes, this is Tottenham after all.

Conte is 40/1 with the bookies to be the next Premier League manager to leave.

No doubt if they lose to Everton those odds will be slashed to 12/1 and Spurs fans will already be calling for his head. Welcome to Tottenham, Antonio.