Mabbutt worried by ´short-term´ Conte contract at Tottenham

Tottenham legend Gary Mabbutt has backed new Spurs head coach Antonio Conte to have an immediate impact with the club – but would prefer him to have signed a longer contract.

The former Juventus, Chelsea and Inter boss was swiftly appointed as the replacement for Nuno Espirito Santo, who was sacked on Monday.

Tottenham made an unsuccessful attempt to recruit 52-year-old Conte prior to their appointment of Nuno in the close season.

They secured their man second time round but Conte has only agreed an 18-month deal with the London club.

The Italian has left his last two posts after just two seasons in charge, parting with the Nerazzurri over a reported dispute with the club’s board despite having led them to the Serie A title last campaign, breaking Juve’s hold on the Scudetto.

Ahead of Conte’s first Premier League match in charge of Spurs, against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday, Mabbutt expressed concern about the length of his contract.

He told Stats Perform: “Ideally, as a club, you want to get a manager in there who is going to have a long-term view because you want to build something.

“We have got a fantastic academy group of players coming through.

“But he said he’s got an 18-month contract initially. So that is a short-term contract he is coming in with.

“In his first two years at Chelsea, he won the Premier League title and he won the FA Cup. In Milan [at Inter], it was the first time for 11 years they won the title.

“So, he’s a manager that can come in and see where the problems are. He sees how those problems can be addressed and he gets in there, and he deals with it. That’s what I like about him.”

Mabbutt, who played 619 games for Spurs in all competitions, won the UEFA Cup in 1984, and captained them to the 1991 FA Cup, reckons Conte will get the best out of squad available to him.

He also believes Conte’s systems and managerial style will suit the club’s players as Spurs desperately seek a first trophy since 2008.

“I think he’s very forthright and the way he wants his teams to play,” he added.

“Very famously at Chelsea he was playing sort of the 3-4-3 formation, or 3-5-2 formation, those formations that he’s always tended to use. 

“I think we have the players at Tottenham who will fit into that mould and seeing the first game [against Vitesse in the Europa Conference League] you could see the players were asked to be doing different things, you could see that they were responding to what he wanted. 

“I think he can make changes very, very quickly. And what this group of players need, they need to be given the confidence to be allowed to go out there and play. 

“These need to be given the belief that they can achieve things. And I believe a manager like Conte could do that.”