ROME: Antonio Conte etched his name in history when Napoli saw Cagliari off to win the Serie A title at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Friday night.
The Italian became the first manager to win the Serie A title with three different clubs when Napoli beat Cagliari to seal the title race.
It was also his fifth top-flight title as a manager, making him the third-most successful manager in Serie A, after Giovanni Trapattoni (7) and Massimiliano Allegri (7).
Both coaches won a lone title with AC Milan while all of their other Scudettos came with Juventus.
For Conte, too, the first Serie A title came with the same team, in 2012, its first in nearly a decade. He went on to complete a hat-trick of Serie A titles, securing the third Scudetti (decade-star). In each of the three seasons, he won the Italian Coach of the Year.
He left soon after to become Italy’s national team coach – a stint that ran until the end of Euro 2016, following which he moved to the Premier League, winning the Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea.
But, having failed to secure Champions League football, the Blues showed him the door. And Inter Milan embraced him with open arms – one that bore fruit within two seasons as the Nerazzuri won the league in 2021, its first Serie A title in 11 years.
Conte is known for a three-man defensive system and his fiery press conferences, which have often led to friction in the clubs he has worked in.
One of the biggest such examples was Tottenham Hotspur, where his time ended soon after he pointed the finger of blame at the players and the club management after a draw with Southampton in March 2023.
“We are 11 players who go onto the pitch. I see selfish players. I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart [into it],” Conte had said.
“Tottenham’s story is this. For twenty years, there has been this owner, and they have never won anything, but why? … I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench. You risk disrupting the manager figure and protecting the other situation in every moment,” Conte had said.
Within a week, he was gone from the club. Conte, a Juventus legend as a player, looked teetering as a manager, despite winning silverware.
But his home country, Italy, came calling again, this time through a different club – Napoli.
In 2023, the club won its first Scudetto in 33 years under Luciano Spalletti, but soon after, the club had an exodus, with key players – Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen, Piotr Zielinski and Kim Min-jae – leaving and Spalletti moving on to the Italian National team.
After a forgettable 2023-24 season, Conte took charge and clinched the title within a season, making him one of the greatest Italian managers of all time.
“I’m happy in Naples and I’m working for fans who give me something emotionally. That’s very important. But you know that whoever hires me knows that I bring with me expectations,” said Conte.
“People hire me and think ‘you have to finish first or second, even if you finished 10th the year before, and you have to fight for the title, qualifying for Europe isn’t enough’.
“I can handle all of that, but I’m not stupid if there aren’t the resources in place to achieve that.”
But Conte’s relationship with the clubs he manages. He averages 1.33 years at a club, and he has managed 50 games or more for only five of the 11 sided he has managed. Agencies
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