The Tottenham Hotspur narrative that has to end now

The narrative swirling around Tottenham Hotspur for a while now, which seems to be growing, is the story of who will be Spurs’ next manager, and it needs to end.

If you spend time on Twitter or reading articles about Tottenham Hotspur, you might believe the club has a current job opening for a manager. And while Spurs do have an opening for the next manager of the women’s team after Rehanne Skinner was relieved of her duties. However, the men’s team still has a coach, and a pretty good one at that, in Antonio Conte. While there are valid reasons to question whether or not Conte will be at Tottenham after this season, that is still after this season, and this season should be our focus.

Why the Conte out narrative is so easy at Tottenham Hotspur

Anyone following the team knows this has been a difficult season for Conte. Over the last year, he has lost three of his oldest and longest friends. Losing one close compatriot can devastate people for a long time; losing three in less than a year must be excruciating. If we compound that with the fact that Conte’s family still lives in Italy, you have a man who is mostly going through a lot alone.

As if things were not bad enough, Conte had emergency surgery and, after returning too quickly, had to miss several critical weeks with the team.

The missed time, the loss of friends, the lack of time with his family, and the fact that his contract runs out at the end of this season all point to the conclusion that Conte is gone at the end of the season.

This may be true, and it may be what is best for both the man and the club.

However, this does not discount that Conte is still the manager, and speculating who will replace him is in poor taste. Not to mention that anyone linked with the job cannot say they want the job – unless they do not have a job. Thus trying to link coaches from Brighton and beyond with the role is dumb folly.

Instead of speculating on what might be, we, the fans, the media, and the team, must focus on the here and now, which is this season. Spurs still have 11 games left to finish in the top four and guarantee a Champions League place for whoever is the coach next season, whether Conte or Ted Lasso. Ultimately, it will not be the next coach who impacts that outcome, it is the current one, and we would all be wise to get behind him and the club.