Jamie O'Hara calls for Conte's sacking after Champions League exit
‘I’m sick to DEATH of watching Spurs’: Jamie O’Hara tells ‘diabolical’ Tottenham to sack ‘negative’ Antonio Conte after limp Champions League exit – and calls for former boss Mauricio Pochettino to be re-appointed NOW
- Tottenham crashed out of the Champions League with a whimper against Milan
- Match post-mortem has unleashed fresh calls to sack manager Antonio Conte
- Former manager Pochettino remains the fan-favourite to take up the mantle
Jamie O’Hara has called for Antonio Conte’s sacking following Tottenham’s abysmal Champions League showing against AC Milan on Wednesday night.
The former Spurs player bemoaned the manager’s ‘diabolical’ football, claiming that he would ‘rather watch paint dry’ than follow the north London club.
Spurs’ capitulation at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium puts the club out of likely contention for a trophy this season, with the team currently 18 points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Not only does the defeat cap a rocky legacy for Conte in the Champions League, which has seen the Italian manager reach the competition’s quarter-finals only once during an otherwise storied career, it brings up fresh questions around the club’s trophyless run, their unremarkable results this season, and the future of star-man Harry Kane.
O’Hara reserved the majority of his ire for the team’s manager.
Antonio Conte’s future at Tottenham is in serious doubt after their limp European exit
Spurs crashed out of another competition exactly a week after their embarrassing FA Cup exit
‘I feel for the Spurs fans there tonight because it was embarrassing, it was a pathetic performance all over the park,’ O’Hara said on talkSPORT after the match.
‘I think the time has come for Conte to go, he doesn’t look like he wants to be there and the players are not getting what he wants to do.
Jamie O’Hara vented his spleen on talkSPORT after the final whistle
‘Put him out of his misery, put everyone out of their misery, get Poch [Mauricio Pochettino] in and move on, let him have three months till the end of the season to see what he’s got.
‘Then he has pre-season and next season, we might get top four.’
Conte’s contract with Spurs expires at the end of the season – although the embattled manager is not confident he will last until then – and amidst rumoured interest from European clubs such as Juventus, it is unlikely it will be extended.
Pochettino has not taken up a managerial position since the Argentine manager was sacked from his role as head coach of Paris Saint-Germain in July 2022.
‘There’s no way I can keep watching, I’m actually tired of watching Tottenham, I just want to enjoy watching my team,’ O’Hara continued.
‘The time has come for Pochettino to return. The club needs a lift, the fans need a lift.’
Pochettino was widely praised by fans during his five-year spell at Tottenham for overachieving and developing young talent, but was given his marching orders in 2019 as Spurs languished 14th in the league.
A Champions League exit will likely ramp up the rumour mill as to where captain Harry Kane will move as Tottenham prepare to endure another trophyless season
Mauricio Pochettino (pictured in 2019) is a fan favourite to be reappointed as Spurs manager
Cristian Romero’s red card was a turning point which Jamie O’Hara believes Conte got wrong
O’Hara went on to describe his feelings on the failure of the Conte project: ‘The fans got behind it, they tried and tried, it hasn’t worked. You have to hold up your hands sometimes and go, Conte is a great manager, it hasn’t worked for Tottenham.
‘The football is diabolical, it is awful to watch. I’d rather watch paint dry.’
Spurs failed to gain anything in the nil-nil draw, with the visitors from Milan progressing after scoring in the first leg at the San Siro.
A lacklustre performance on the pitch was underscored by Cristian Romero being shown a red card 15 minutes before time, and the ensuing substitution Conte served up, swapping forward Dejan Kulusevski for centre-back Davinson Sanchez.
O’Hara decried the call as ‘negative’ and ‘boring’, saying: ‘I don’t understand what [Conte’s] thinking there. Why are you taking off Kulusevski and bringing on a centre-half when you’re losing the game?
‘I don’t undestand his thinking. It’s so negative, it’s so boring.
‘Honestly, I’m sick to death of watching Spurs.
‘They rip your heart out every season. I’ve had enough of it.
‘I don’t want to watch them anymore, I’m a Spurs fan, and I don’t want to watch it!’
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