CONTE RAGE

• Manager lashes ‘self ish’ players as Spurs f lop again • Club’s ‘20 years of failure’ in amazing 10-minute rant

ANTONIO CONTE unleashed a savage verbal assault on his Tottenham flops after watching them surrender a two-goal lead to draw at Southampton.

Conte branded them selfish, accused them of lacking ‘fire in the eyes’, admitted the collective spirit had gone backwards since last season and waded into the problems of the blame culture inside Spurs.

In a blistering 10-minute rant, the Italian claimed this was the reason they have not won a trophy for 15 years, insisting it was not the fault of chairman Daniel Levy or the string of managers.

‘They are used to it here,’ fumed the manager after a 3-3 draw at St Mary’s. ‘They don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure. They don’t want to play under stress. It is easy in this way. Tottenham’s story is this.

‘I said I wanted to see the fire and I have not seen it. I said I want to see the fire in their hearts. I want to see the right spirit. Not only in the training session, but on the pitch because it is here you make the difference.

‘Until now, I try to hide the situation but there are 10 games to go and some people think we can fight. Fight for what? With this spirit, this attitude, this commitment? What? For seventh, eighth, 10th place?

‘I am not used to being in this position. I am really upset, and everyone has to take their responsibility. Not only the club, the manager and the staff. The players have to be involved in this situation because it is time to change this situation if Tottenham want to change

‘If they want to continue in this way, they can change the manager, a lot of managers, but the situation cannot change. Believe me.’

For 20 years, Conte claimed, the

THERE once was a time when Southampton would regularly reach this time of the year, stir and stretch, and escape from whatever relegation tangle they had worked themselves into during the course of the winter.

These feats of escapology featured an assorted cast but often led by Matt Le Tissier, whose goals and assists would garner points from the most unlikely places.

By the time they had fought back from 3-1 down to rescue a point against Tottenham, enraging their manager Antonio Conte, that same irrepressibility was back in the air by the Solent. And the name of interim boss Ruben Selles was ringing around St Mary’s.

For Le Tissier, read James WardProwse, overlooked by England this week but leading the fight, holding his nerve from the spot to beat former team-mate and neighbour Fraser Forster in the 90th minute, finding the top corner. ‘There was a lot of pressure,’ said Ward-Prowse. ‘I know Fraser very well. He used to be my next-door neighbour so I’ve taken a few penalties against him in my garden with my little boy, so we have something going on there. I didn’t want to look at him before the pen because I knew I’d laugh!’

Others played their parts in claiming this unlikely point. Theo Walcott, remember him? Spurs fans certainly did. They booed the former Arsenal winger from the outset but this did not stop him scoring his first goal for nearly two years, Southampton’s second, to rekindle hope at 3-2.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles, another ex-Arsenal man jeered from the away end, came on when Saints lost both first-choice central-halves to injuries in the first half. He deputised in the heart of defence against Harry Kane, and popped up at the other end to win the penalty converted by Ward-Prowse. All of which came as a shock to Tottenham and caused considerable damage their top four hopes.

Conte celebrated as if he thought the points were safe when Ivan Perisic’s first Spurs goal gave them a 3-1 lead with 16 minutes left.

Earlier, Pedro Porro had celebrated his first for the club, the first of the game in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Harry Kane restored the lead for the visitors following an equaliser by Che Adams, the first Saints striker to score in the Premier League since the World Cup and a goal to trigger a frantic second half.

The first half was disrupted by injuries. First Richarlison pulled up hurt and went off in distress with the collar of his shirt pulled up over his face. It is the third significant injury setback of the season for the Brazilian. Southampton’s Armel BellaKotchap followed him off, almost immediately, gingerly holding his right forearm with his left hand.

With less than eight minutes on the clock, it was the earliest that both teams had made a change in a Premier League game, according to Opta.

Two more fell before the interval. Jan Bednarek required a long spell of treatment and tried to continue before going off in pain. Ben Davies was hurt and gave way to Perisic. In and around all this, the game was even with flurries of activity at both ends. Eric Dier glanced a header wide from a cross by Dejan Kulusevski following a short corner routine, and right wing-back Porro proved a constant attacking threat.

He and Son Heung-min combined to produce the opener. The Korean was the provider with a pass to tempt Porro forward once more on the right. Driving forward into the penalty box, the Spaniard finished in confident fashion, high past Saints keeper Gavin Bazunu and in off the bar.

Southampton were level within a minute of the restart. Romeo Lavia released Walcott and he squared to Adams, who tapped in from close range, his first Premier League goal since November.

This energised the crowd and confidence flooded back into the home team. Kyle Walker-Peters fizzed a cross across goal and WardProwse swerved a free kick over from a position where he can be more punishing.

Still, Spurs were dangerous on the counter-attack and Kane found the net, heading in at the back post from a deep, teasing cross by Kulusevski. It was his ninth headed goal of the season equalling a Premier League record set by Duncan Ferguson in 1996/97.

Perisic stretched the lead with a sweet volley but Saints responded with Walcott pouncing on a noddown by substitute Sekoe Mara.

Forster made a double save from Mara but could not extend his heroics to save the penalty, a soft one, conceded by Pape Sarr for a kick on Maitland-Niles.

Ward-Prowse fired it into the top corner, sparking a remarkable rant from Conte complaining about his ‘selfish’ players. They lacked the fighting spirit that will give Southampton reason to believe.

A tough penalty decision to take but at 3-1 up with 15 minutes to go, should your team be drawing that match?

The penalty, for me, it was not a penalty. If we are going to discuss the penalty it means we don’t want to see other situations. The worst situation is what was happening on the pitch. What has been happening in the last few months, what is happening in my second season.

It’s the right moment to speak because, after this performance, this is unacceptable. We are winning 3-1, in control of the game and you are able to concede two goals and to risk, because also Fraser made a fantastic save in one situation. It’s much better to go into the problem. The problem is we showed that we are not a team. We are 11 players that go into the pitch. I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart.

Before today I prefer to hide this situation and to try to speak to improve the spirit, the situation, with a lot of situations. The tactical or technical aspect, this is one situation. The most important thing if you want to become a strong team, if you want to become competitive, if you want to win, is the desire, the fire that you need to have in your eyes, in your heart, and you have to show this in every moment. In every moment.

If I have to compare last season and this season, we have to improve, but now we are worse in this aspect. When you are not a team, anything can happen, in any moment.

Today is the last situation. Don’t forget that in FA Cup we lost to Sheffield United, who played with young players. With a strong team, we were dropped from the FA Cup.

A lot of situations, I repeat, not going to improve. And I am not speaking about tactical aspect or technical aspect.

[It’s] about being a team, being a team, being a team. It is the most important thing. To understand that we play for the badge. We have to play to make our fans proud of us. We have to play to show desire. The fire in your eyes to win: if you have this, for sure, you don’t go out in FA Cup. Today, you win.

We have to play to make our fans proud, we have to play to show desire. Here we’re used to it for a long time. The club has the responsibility for the transfer market, every coach that stayed here has the responsibility. And the players? The players? Where are the players?

In my experience, I can tell you that if you want to be competitive, if you want to fight, you have to improve this aspect. And this aspect, I can tell you, in this moment is really, really low. And I see only 11 players that play for themselves.

But does your future, the uncertainty ....

You are finding an alibi, another alibi. You try to find an excuse for the players. OK, continue to do this, to find an excuse for the players. You do only this! You do only this. Excuses for the players.

But the players, maybe, my future, then we lost confidence, they lost spirit, they lost being a team. Excuses. Excuses. Excuse. Try to protect them every time. Bah. Come on, come on, come on. We are professional. The club pay us a lot of money. The players receive money, me receive money, you understand?

Not to find excuse or not show spirit or a sense of belonging or a sense of responsibility because we are showing this. For me this is unacceptable because this is the first time in my career to see a situation like this. Until now I wasn’t able to change, not just to change, but compared to last season, the situation went to become worse.

Why is it happening?

Why? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress. It is easy in this way.

Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stay here. I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench. You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment.

Until now I try to hide the situation but now, no, because I repeat I don’t want to see what I’ve seen today because this is unacceptable and also unacceptable for the fans. They follow us, pay the ticket and to see the team another time to have this type of performance is unacceptable. We have to think a lot about this.

You saw the fire last week. What has changed?

I said that I want to see the fire in their eyes, in their hearts. I want to see the right spirit. Ok. Not only in the training session, on the pitch. Because here you have to make the difference. And until now I try to hide the situation but now, there are 10 games to go and some people think we can fight. Fight for what with his spirit, this attitude? What? For seventh, eighth, 10th place? I am not used to this position. I’m really upset and everyone has to take their responsibility.

Not only the club, the manager and the staff. The players have to be involved in this situation because it is time to change this situation if Tottenham want to change. If they want to continue in this way, they can change the manager, a lot of managers, but the situation cannot change. Believe me.