FORMER TOTTENHAM FULL BACK Matt Doherty has backed his former manager Antonio Conte and hopes that Spurs hold onto the fiery Italian head coach.
Speculation has been rife this week that the Italian coach is set to lose his job after his rant in the press conference on Saturday.
Spurs drew 3-3 with Southampton and Conte found himself involved in a rant about Spurs players' lack of professionalism and the history of the club.
"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," said Conte last weekend
"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.
“Tottenham's story is this. 20 years there is the owner & they never won something. Why?” 😲
Antonio Conte goes down swinging in INCREDIBLE fashion 😳
🔗 https://t.co/cTG69ZLnok pic.twitter.com/yNJZirZIy6— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) March 18, 2023
Doherty who left Spurs for Atletico Madrid in January is with the Republic of Ireland camp this week for the Latvia and France games.
He has also been made captain for the Latvia game tonight.
The 31-year-old full-back who struggled for game time at Spurs believes that his former boss is an 'unbelievable coach and an unbelievable manager'.
He also thinks Spurs should hang onto Conte despite his infamous outburst.
"He’s an unbelievable coach and an unbelievable manager. He won’t say anything in the press that he won’t say to his players. He’s completely honest with his players, has the passion for the whole club.
"For me, I hope Tottenham stick by him and hold onto him for as long as possible. He’s one of the best managers of all time."
Doherty has made one appearance for Diego Simeone's side this season and there are concerns that the Swords native will be rusty ahead of Ireland's two games this week
However, Doherty has admitted he is enjoying his time in Spain's capital city.
"It's going well for me in Spain. It's a different experience completely, different culture, different preparation for games. I'm enjoying my time there even though I'm not playing that much," he added on Tuesday.
'The reason I left was... well, initially it was just to go on loan for the rest of the season and then obviously we had the problems with too many loans, so then it was a case of I couldn't really say no to that type of experience and a manager of his calibre.
'I always like to challenge myself and be uncomfortable at times and it was a similar case there.
'I didn't have long to think about it, but the time I did have, I just couldn't say no to that opportunity.
'I am there until the end of the season, and I am just using it as a learning experience. I am improving by training with world-class players every day.
'I am using the six months I have there to try and get better, to try and understand the game better and improve my overall game.'
Ireland's game against Latvia starts at 7.45pm tonight.
The game is live on RTE Two. Coverage will begin at 7pm.
"I hope Tottenham stick by him and hold onto him for as long as possible, he's one of the best managers of all time."
Former #THFC player Matt Doherty says Antonio Conte is always honest with his squad
pic.twitter.com/A2fxtQ35Rd— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) March 21, 2023
