CHELSEA boss Antonio Conte claims it would be ‘stupid’ to sack him.
On the face of it he is spot on.
In his first season at the club he re-energised Stamford Bridge and delivered the title.
His touchline antics were infectious and had Blues bouncing again.
He still has the best win percentage of any manager in the club’s history at 69 per cent and last season’s title alone should be enough to ensure he stays in charge.
A victory against West Brom tonight and they are back up to fourth — three points off second.
There is a mouth-watering tie with Barcelona to look forward to in the Champions League and a more than negotiable home FA Cup tie with Championship side Hull to make it into the last eight of that competition.
Yet his job seems to hang by a thread and defeat at home to West Brom tonight could perhaps be his last.
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Conte argues that even without silverware to show for this season’s efforts the best way to bounce back is to keep a foot on the ball and stick with him.
He said: “If you don’t win, try to build something important. There are two ways. There is a stupid way and an intelligent way.”
The problem for Conte is that the ‘stupid way’ appears to have worked for Chelsea in the past.
It seems that instability is the new stability.
Unfortunately against all common sense it seems the Blues have been onto something for some time — the constant ‘bounce back’ that a new manager gives them. Perhaps that is what the modern player needs.
There is no loyalty anymore to badge or manager.
It has become a very selfish industry in that way.
Too many are out for themselves rather than the collective good of the club.
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So the continuing need for change, a new voice, a new start, seems to be the answer for many clubs.
People always used to point to Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United as the model for success.
But he would not have survived past his first four years in the modern game.
As David Moyes found out after ten months, the idea of laying down roots and building something has even become outdated at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho has signed a new contract there but do we really believe he will see it out if a title does not arrive in the next two seasons — even with the bar raised to ridiculously new heights by Manchester City?
Arsene Wenger will be the last top-flight manager to have been afforded the loyalty of his club through thick and thin yet new owners will even look at that as an example of how stale things can go.
Instead they will look at Chelsea and see how the constant chopping and changing of bosses revitalises the club and continues to bring in trophies.
We used to laugh at clubs in Italy and Spain when they did this but it is us now.
Which is why it will be no shock if come tomorrow morning there is an announcement that Conte has been sacked.
It was a shock when Claudio Ranieri went because what he had achieved at Leicester seemed the impossible.
At Stamford Bridge however, titles and trophies have become the norm, no matter who they employ and how many times they change the man at the top.
Which is why nobody has any special privileges there, no matter what they do.
Conte said on Friday: “My players are getting used to these rumours and speculation.”
Well yes they are, which means they can take their foot off the pedal when it suits, safe in the knowledge that their boss really has no power, he will take the fall, they will still get paid.
There is an argument that Chelsea may have achieved so much more with stability in the managerial hot seat.
Really? Do we really know that?
In 15 years at the helm owner Roman Abramovich has had TEN different managers.
Two of them — Mourinho and Guus Hiddink — have had two spells and six of them have won silverware.
Abramovich’s hire-and-fire policy has brought in five titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and the all-important Champions League in May 2012 which did not even keep Roberto Di Matteo in a job beyond the following November.
Look elsewhere and we see a similar trend bearing fruit.
Watford are on their fourth manager in less than three years but have retained their place in the Premier League against the odds since going up in May 2015.
It all seems a bit mad but we can no longer argue this is the ‘stupid’ way to do things.
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