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Man Utd need ‘Mr Holy Water’ to salvage ‘Red Devils’ image

By our reporter On Oct 28, 2021 0

Antonio Conte is being lined up for a return to the English Premier League.

The former Chelsea boss, 52, is the hot favourite to take over from beleaguered Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford.

Famously, the Italian won the Premier League title with the Blues, before falling out with the Stamford Bridge hierarchy and getting the boot.

Last season, he restored Inter Milan’s name as the pride of Serie A, before leaving the club in a storm, after they were forced to sell off star talent in the wake of a financial crisis.

Fiery Conte has come a long way since growing up in Leece as an altar boy, and as a devout catholic has been known to carry around holy water, which he sprinkles onto the pitch.

It’s the divine intervention United might need if they are to regain some momentum in the title race.

The deeply religious coach, who also captained Juventus in his playing days, showed he was a leader from a very young age.

Growing up southern Italy, he took on a huge responsibility at Mass that endeared him to the priests.

Conte revealed: “When I helped at Mass the priest would decide who got to carry the big candles and I always wanted to be picked.

“When I was it made my day and I was so happy! I used to like being in charge and organising all the other altar boys.”

Conte began a life in football with his hometown club, Lecce.

A tenacious and hard-working midfielder who kept things simple, he made his debut at the age of 16 – showing maturity beyond his years.

A fractured tibia in 1987 threatened to derail his career, but he returned to the pitch a year later and went on to make 99 appearances for the club.

In 1991, he secured a dream move to Juventus when Giovanni Trapattoni signed him.

They would form such a strong bond Conte would later refer to him as his second father.

The ball-winner became a servant to Juventus for 13 years, amassing 420 appearances for the club.

He won Serie A five times, while on the European stage he added the Champions League and Uefa Cup medals to his glittering trophy cabinet.

For many years he was Juve’s captain during their most historic moments.

Conte appeared 20 times for his country too, and was a member of both the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000 squads that finished runners-up.

Given his nature, it was expected that Conte would make the step into management.

However, he had to cut his teeth at a lower level – first with Serie B’s Arezzo, who he couldn’t save from relegation.

Then, more successfully with Bari, who he did get out of a relegation fight. Remarkably, a season later, he would achieve the unthinkable and lead the club to promotion.

In 2009, he was snubbed for the vacant position at Juventus. Instead, he joined Atalanta but under pressure from their ultras tendered his resignation four months later with the club in 19th place in Serie A.

He returned with Siena in Serie B, again showing his nous to gain promotion to the top flight – doing so in his first season.

In 2011, Conte finally got the call to return to his spiritual home and was installed as Juventus boss.

Despite some doubt whether he had the experience, the club won three Serie A titles in a row under the tactician.

However, following disappointment on the European stage, Conte resigned from his post during preseason in 2014.

Many believed it was because of his lack of support in the transfer market. A belief he fuelled.

“Well, you cannot go to eat at a €100 restaurant with just €10 in your pocket, can you?” he responded about Juve’s plans for the coming season, which was seen as an attack at the club’s directors and said just days before he walked.

During his three-year tenure in charge of the Old Lady, Conte was hit with a scandal that dated back to his Siena days.

He was accused of failing to report attempted match-fixing by ex-Siena star Filippo Carobbio, who was connected with the betting debacle that tarnished the reputation of the Italian game in the 2011-12 season.

Carobbio said during a meeting before a match against Novara, Siena owner Massimo Mezzaroma indirectly sent a message to the players asking them to ensure the game finished in a draw.

Mezzaroma allegedly wanted to turn a large profit on a bet he had made. The match finished 2–2 and Carobbio testified Conte was present when the message was relayed to the players.

Carrobio also claimed the result of the final match of the season, in which Siena lost 1–0 to AlbinoLefee, was prearranged after Siena’s assistant manager asked he and another player “contact someone at AlbinoLeffe to reach an agreement over the return match”.

Further allegations were aimed at Conte in regards to a 5-0 win over Varese, a match Carrobio accused his coach of knowing he was asked to lose, but didn’t report it.

Conte denied all accusations through his lawyer, and took on their advice of taking a plea bargain, which would’ve seen him serve a three month ban and receive a fine.

But it was rejected by the Italian authorities and he was slapped with a 10-month ban, although Conte maintained his innocence.

Juventus appealed weeks later, and Conte’s touchline ban was shortened to four months.

Their players would later dedicate their Supercoppa Italiana win to their under fire manager.

In 2016, the preliminary hearing judge of the court of Cremona eventually acquitted Conte of all charges in regard to his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal.

Throughout the Scommessopoli investigations, Conte expressed his gratitude to his wife Elisabetta and daughter, Vittoria for their support.

Of them, he has said: “I have a great woman by my side, one who always tries to understand me. As for my daughter, she is the other woman in my life. She is beginning to understand that her dad gets nervous when he does not win [a match].”

A month after leaving Juve, Conte was handed the reigns of the Italian national job, following Cesare Prandelli’s resignation.

It was only ever going to be a two-year deal, with Conte reluctant to commit further.

He suffered his first defeat after 10 games, 1-0 to Portugal in a friendly.

However, he managed to guide Italy comfortably to Euro 2016 qualification, and then out of the group stage at the competition, where he drew praise for his team’s defensive strength and team organisation.

But, after they fell to defeat to Germany in the quarter-final on penalties, he admitted his time was up and he was desperate for a “return to the cut and thrust of club football”.

Two months later, he would take Stamford Bridge hotseat after just 25 games coaching the Azzuri.

Roman Abramovich came calling in 2016, and Conte’s debut season at Chelsea couldn’t have been better.

A title win in his debut Premier League campaign, in which the West Londoners won an incredible 30 league wins from 38 games, was only slightly blighted by an FA Cup final loss to Arsenal.

Still, he was handed a new contract for a further two years.

His second season was disappointing, with the club finishing in fifth – out of the Champions League places.

They did win silverware, though, lifting the FA Cup by defeating Manchester United 1-0.

But things began to unravel when Conte fell out with Diego Costa, who he sent an infamous text telling the centre forward he wasn’t part of his plans.

Then, there were clashes with the hierarchy over transfers – with the Italian saying in an interview Chelsea had “lost momentum” after failing to sign players he wanted, including Romelu Lukaku and Virgil van Dijk.

Conte was sacked in 2018 and replaced by Maurizio Sarri, but received a staggering £26.6million payout in compensation for his team and legal fees.

Conte’s habit of winning transferred to Inter, but he had to wait a season for it to happen.

A promising first campaign saw i nerazzurri finish runners-up in both Serie A and the Europa League.

There was an epic square-up between Sevilla star Ever Banega and Conte during that European final, who taunted him about his hair transplant and shouted towards him on the touchline: “Let’s see if his wig is real.”

But the groundwork was in place for a title challenge the next year, as Conte’s masterplan began to come to fruition.

With the signing he wanted at Chelsea, Lukaku, leading his line Inter were champions for the first time in eleven years.

They also ended Juventus’s run of nine consecutive titles, storming to the championship with 91 points – some 12 clear of rivals AC Milan.

Conte left in a blaze of glory in the summer – with the club confirming his departure was by mutual consent.

Rumblings of lack of transfer support before he left were a constant, with rumours of unrest growing.

Inter were also stripped of star assets, including Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi with owners Suning Holdings Group having to balance the books after the coronavirus pandemic hit their finances.

With that in mind, wherever Conte goes, he will want assurances on the budget he will be given for his next challenge.

Surely choosing the richest club in the world as his next project is a no-brainer.