Antonio Conte has declared he will never stop speaking his mind – even if it costs him his job at Chelsea.
At the end of a week in which the patience of the club’s board was pushed to new extremes by Conte’s public complaints about player recruitment, the Italian revealed he would rather quit management altogether than become what he called a “fake”.
Amid claims his relationship with Roman Abramovich’s right-hand woman and chief transfer negotiator, Marina Granovskaia, had broken down almost entirely and that former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique was being lined up to replace him, Conte said: “For sure, I’m not a diplomatic man. I think that you can see this.
“At the same time, I think that I’m very honest; I’m very honest.
“I’m sure, if I try to change myself, it’s right to stop, to stop my career.
“I think that the honest person speaks very clearly in every moment. And, if you are a fake, you are fake and you try always to not tell the truth.
“I repeat: I prefer to be honest, to tell the truth in every moment. I hate the fake person.”
Asked whether that applied even if it risked costing him his job, Conte laughed, adding: “This is a good question, but I answered you before.”
The former Juventus boss, who appears more certain than ever to part ways with Chelsea just a year after leading them to the Premier League title, said he also had “no regrets” about anything he had done during his year and a half in charge at Stamford Bridge.
READ ALSO: West Brom knock out Liverpool, Kane rescues Spurs
“No regrets, no,” he said.
“When I take a decision, I don’t want to look behind. I want always to look at the present, to look in front of me.
“Because I think this is the best way to improve yourself, to try to find solutions – don’t try to find alibis, excuses. I think that this is the right way.
“When you take a decision, you have to go forwards and to you have try to find a solution, solution, solution.”
Conte indicated he had no regrets about anything he had said, either, days after he further alienated his employers by implying he had no input into the club’s signings.
“You ask me if I had regrets; my answer is this: that I think that when you take a decision, you have to go straight,” he said.
“Because, I think this is the best way to find solutions. Otherwise, you continue to complain, complain, complain.”
Yahoo
