Antonio Conte told his staff not to get involved with celebrations at Tottenham over finishing fourth in the Premier League during his time there as he reminded the coaches that they are used to more.
While this week has been all about the arrival of Thomas Frank at Spurs and the sacking of Ange Postecoglou after the Australian won the club's first trophy in 17 years, Conte was the manager before them both and has been speaking about his experiences at the north London side. The departure of Postecoglou after winning the Europa League, the club's first European title in 41 years, has opened a debate among many supporters over whether Tottenham are more interested in finishing in the top four than winning silverware.
Conte has since joined the list of recent managers who have all gone on and bagged a trophy after leaving Spurs as he won Serie A with Napoli last month. In an interview with Sky Italia this week, translated by Sports Witness, Conte admitted that he wanted his staff to refrain from joining in with the wild celebrations over finishing fourth at Tottenham.
"It was a difficult year at Tottenham. I arrived in November with them ninth in the standings and we ended up in the Champions League, overtaking Arsenal and you know the rivalry between the two clubs. For them, going to the Champions League was like winning the Premier League," he said.
"On the last day, the Champions League entry was celebrated in the dressing room. I called my staff and told them: we don’t get used to these celebrations. You don’t celebrate these things. We are used to celebrating other things. OK, great feat, but at the same time we understand what kind of celebration it is."
Before the end of the following campaign, Conte was gone and he admitted that the deaths of three close friends and his own health problems had made him re-evaluate his priorities.
"The following year a few things happened, Gian Piero Ventrone died of leukaemia in 15 days and it was a terrible blow on an emotional and psychological level and it wasn’t easy," he said. "Then Gianluca Vialli also passed away, with whom I had met the month before at a restaurant with my wife. I had seen him very calm, he was even fine, but during that dinner I understood that something was wrong. You notice it when someone is enjoying something, he had drunk, eaten and after a month he passed away.
"Sinisa [Mihajlovic’s] story also had an impact. A series of pains that made me rethink some priorities. I had my family far away, in Italy, while I was in a hotel. My wife had always made an effort for me. So I asked myself: how much is it worth sacrificing family and friends for this knowing that from one day to the next you find yourself facing tragedies of this kind and no longer being there? This made me change some priorities.
"Then I also had a problem and I had to urgently have gallbladder surgery and I was at risk of getting pancreatitis. In short, that period made me think a lot about the priorities."