By Tam McManus

23rd Mar, 2023 | 1:42pm

'Devastating' new Antonio Conte claim at Tottenham - 'he wants to be sacked', says pundit

Antonio Conte wants to get sacked as soon as possible at Tottenham to receive a ‘big payoff’ from the club.

That is the view of former Hibernian striker Tam McManus, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Conte’s ‘devastating rant’ after the Southampton loss.

After throwing away a 3-1 lead and drawing against Southampton on Saturday (18 March), Conte didn’t pull any punches when summarising his player’s performances.

Following the full-time whistle, Conte criticised his players, labelling them ‘selfish’ with ‘no heart or desire’.

Football Insider sources revealed on Tuesday (21 March) that Conte’s rant came after Daniel Levy made it clear he would not be able to sign two of his top transfer targets.

The Italian now finds himself under huge pressure in North London and Tottenham are on the brink of sacking Conte after late-night talks, according to this site’s sources.

McManus believes Spurs have failed to match Conte’s ambition of winning trophies.

“I think he wants to be sacked as soon as possible to get his compensation,” McManus told Football Insider.

“As a manager, you always try to be honest, but I think there are sometimes things you’ve got to hold back.

“Conte was clearly fed up after the Southampton loss but that devastating rant was unforgivable.

“Two goals up with 15 minutes to go and they throw it away – they seem determined to throw away this Champions League spot.

“Conte is obviously used to winning things but at Tottenham the focus seems to be on getting top four and the money from the Champions League.

“That doesn’t match his ambitions but he knew that when he took that very well-paid job.

“It seems he’s looking for a big payoff and is willing to burn bridges along the way.“

In other news, Kieran Maguire slams Tottenham ‘transfer failure’ after source’s £624m reveal