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Richard Gould says revival of CLT20-style event is ‘next logical step’ for sport’s evolution

Matt Roller05-Jun-2025The ECB is exploring the viability of a revamped “World Club Championship” for T20 cricket, more than a decade on from the final edition of the defunct Champions League T20 (CLT20).Several countries have launched new short-form leagues in the last five years, including England (The Hundred), South Africa (SA20), the UAE (ILT20) and the United States (MLC). Global club-based tournaments are also emerging in other sports: football’s expanded 32-team Club World Cup begins next week, and rugby union will launch its own Club World Cup in 2028.Plans are at an early stage but the ECB are interested in the idea of bringing a CLT20-style event back to life. Richard Gould, the board chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo that he sees a global tournament that could add context to the recent proliferation of franchise cricket as “the next logical step” in the sport’s evolution.”That is on the cards,” Gould said. “Without doubt, at some point, there will be a World Club Championship – for both men and women. That’s the next logical step.”The CLT20, which ran from 2009-14, was run by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, and was discontinued after six seasons. Organisers cited its “limited public following” as the primary reason for its demise, and the tournament struggled commercially despite initially securing a lucrative broadcast deal.Gould was chief executive at Somerset when they took part in the inaugural edition in 2009, beating IPL champions Deccan Chargers in their opening match. “That tournament was ahead of its time,” he said. “Commercially, it couldn’t keep up with the expectations on it, but it was a really good event.”Related

• England arrogant for not making CLT20 deal

• Champions League T20 discontinued

• IPL chair Dhumal: Saudi want to invest in cricket – but we've had no proposals

• Dubai Capitals complete Global Super League lineup

The ECB was not actively involved in the governance of the CLT20 and English teams did not take part in the final two editions due to a clash with the final stages of the County Championship season. Finding a suitable window in cricket’s packed global calendar is among the biggest challenges in relaunching a similar tournament.A World Club Championship would also require significant buy-in from Indian franchises: eight of the 10 IPL owners and four of the five WPL owners have interests in short-form leagues outside India. Arun Dhumal, the IPL chairman, told ESPNcricinfo last month: “If it creates value for cricket at a global stage, definitely we can look at that.”ESPNcricinfo understands that England would likely be represented by the winners of the Hundred, rather than the T20 Blast, if the event were to go ahead.Gould’s support for the idea of a World Club Championship stands in contrast to his response to reports of a Saudi Arabian-backed T20 ‘Grand Slam’ circuit earlier this year, for which he said there was “no scope or demand”.Last year, Guyana launched a ‘Global Super League’ which brings together teams from five different leagues. The second edition of the tournament will take place in July and will feature the champions of three global leagues – Australia’s Big Bash League, New Zealand’s Super Smash and the UAE’s ILT20 – but remains invitation-only.

The Frenchman's 22-year tenure drew to a close at Huddersfield on Sunday – here, Goal takes a look back at some unforgettable memories

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  ​Revolutionising training

  When Wenger arrived in north London, he completely changed the entire culture of the club.

  New training regimes based around isometrics helped older players such as Tony Adams and Martin Keown prolong their careers.

  Indeed, diets changed dramatically as Wenger introduced healthy food into the club canteen and his revolutionary methods immediately reaped dividends, as he won the double in his first full season as manager.

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  Offering a rematch

  Wenger was widely lauded for his sense of fair play when, in February 1999, he offered an FA Cup rematch to Sheffield United because Marc Overmars' decisive goal in a 2-1 win at Highbury had come while one of the visiting team's players was down injured.

  The rematch took place 10 days later and Arsenal won again by the exact same scoreline.

• Selling players at the right time

  The loss of striking sensation Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid in the summer of 1999 looked like a major blow for Arsenal but Wenger used the £23m accrued to sign Thierry Henry, which proved an absolute masterstroke.

  Emmanuel Adebayor, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars and Alexander Hleb also feature among the list of players that were never quite the same again after leaving north London.

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• Signing Thierry Henry… Twice!

  After arriving from Juventus in August 1999 for £11 million, Henry was converted from a winger into a striker by Wenger, who had previously worked with his fellow Frenchman at Monaco. 

  The rest, as they say, is history, with Henry going on to become Arsenal's all-time record goalscorer, as well as one of the finest centre-forwards of the modern era.

  His return in 2012 was not quite as successful but there was sheer jubilation when he scored an FA Cup winner against Leeds.

The winter window is now closed, with the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City among those to have spent big bolstering their ranks

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  20Sandro Wagner: Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich, £10.7m

  A Munich native and former Allianz Arena academy graduate is back where it all began at the age of 30, with the towering frontman having offered enough at Bundesliga rivals to convince the reigning champions of his worth.

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  19Francis Coquelin: Arsenal to Valencia, £12m

  A rollercoaster ride in England saw the Frenchman go from bit-part squad player to the answer to a holding midfield conundrum and back again, with a move to Spain secured after starting to slip down the pecking order once more.

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  18Jurgen Locadia: PSV to Brighton, £14m

  The Seagulls always knew that stepping up to the Premier League would require them to roll the dice in the transfer market, and a new club record fee has been shelled out to land a promising forward who must hit the ground running.

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  17Badou Ndiaye: Galatasaray to Stoke City £14m

  The Potters can rarely be accused of lacking battling qualities, but Paul Lambert has moved to further enhance those qualities by acquiring a Senegal international midfielder who could be among those gracing a World Cup stage this summer.

Goal takes a look at the 20 highest-paid managers in football

France Football are set to reveal their annual lost of football's highest-paid coaches, and Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone leads the way by quite some distance.

The Argentine has led Atleti to one of the most successful spells in their history and has been well rewarded for doing so by his employers. 

Simeone earns a staggering €10 million (£8.6m/$11.2m) more than Jose Mourinho did when the Portuguese was in charge at Manchester United.

In addition, France Football unveiled the list of highest-paid players in the game, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo leading the way. 

Below, Goal takes a look at the 20 highest-paid managers in football. 

• saudi arabia
  

  20Dragan Stojkovic

  Club: Guangzhou R&F.

  Total income: €7 million (£6m/$7.9m)

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  19Unai Emery

  Club: Arsenal.

  Total income: €7 million (£6m/$7.9m)

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  18Zinedine Zidane

  Club: Real Madrid.

  Total income: €7.5 million (£6.4m/$8.4m).

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  17Niko Kovac

  Club: Bayern Munich.

  Total income: €7.5 million (£6.4m/$8.4m).

Thursday's draw has thrown together some blockbuster ties – which are you looking forward to the most?

Only a few weeks to go now until that famous music is back in our lives, and Champions League fever has hit new heights after Thursday's group stage draw.

Two of the best strikers on the planet will return to their former clubs after massive summer transfers, as Robert Lewandowski and Barcelona will face his former club, Bayern Munich.

Erling Haaland, meanwhile, will also return to his old stomping ground as a member of Manchester City, who were drawn with Borussia Dortmund.

Barca and Bayern find themselves in one of the tougher groups, with Italian giants Inter also drawn into Group C.

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Paris Saint-Germain also have a fascinating draw as they've been paired with Juventus, Benfica and minnows Maccabi Haifa.

Check out the full draw below…

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  GROUP A

  Team	Country
  Ajax	Netherlands
  Liverpool	England
  Napoli	Italy
  Rangers	Scotland

  In a group that promises amazing atmospheres at all four grounds, Liverpool taking on Rangers in a 'Battle of Britain' catches the eye immediately.

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  GROUP B

  Team	Country
  Porto	Portugal
  Atletico Madrid	Spain
  Bayer Leverkusen	Germany
  Club Brugge	Belgium

  Diego Simeone and Atletico will be happy with their draw as the Spanish side should be favourites to win the group. The race for second, and third, will be interesting, though.

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  GROUP C

  Team	Country
  Bayern Munich	Germany
  Barcelona	Spain
  Inter	Italy
  Viktoria Plzen	Czech Republic

  The 'Group of Death', Robert Lewandowski won't have to wait long to return to Bayern. But don't overlook Inter, who could certainly push for one of the top two spots in the group.

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  GROUP D

  Team	Country
  Eintracht Frankfurt	Germany
  Tottenham	England
  Sporting C.P.	Portugal
  Marseille	France

  Antonio Conte and Spurs will be thrilled, as they have been matched with the Europa League winners, Eintracht Frankfurt, rather than one of the giants in Pot One. All four teams will have realistic hope of advancing, though.

Some of the game's greatest have featured for Portugal, but only the best are allowed in our all-time XI!

Portugal first qualified for the World Cup in 1966, as a team featuring legendary Ballon d'Or winner Eusebio finished in third place.

Their golden generation arrived in the 1990s with legends like Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Paulo Sousa turning Portugal into a force to be reckoned with.

Trophies evaded that crop of players, however, as Portugal had to wait until 2016 for their first major piece of silverware when they won the European Championship at the expense of France.

They then lifted the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League to build on their first success.

Plenty of superstars have featured for Selecao throughout the years, but only the greatest ever can make it into their all-time best XI!

• GK: Vitor Baia

  One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, Vitor Baia made an impression with Porto before catching the eye of Portuguese national team selectors.

  He made his senior debut in 1990 at the age of 21 and went on to make 80 appearances for the national team until 2002, playing a starring role at Euro 1996 and 2000, as well as the 2002 World Cup.

  At Euro 2000, it was Baia who stopped Arif Erdem's penalty in a 2-0 win over Turkey in the quarter-finals.

  Then came Luiz Felipe Scolari as Portugal's manager and Baia never played for his country again.

  That doesn't stop him from beating Rui Patricio to the No.1 jersey in this dream team, though!

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• RB: Joao Domingos Pinto

  Regarded as one of the greatest Portuguese defenders of all time, Pinto represented his country for more than a decade, featuring in one World Cup and one European Championship.

  He appeared in 70 games for Portugal and captained them 42 times.

  After failing to help Portugal qualify for the 1994 World Cup, Pinto was reduced to tears on the field.

  Bobby Robson, who coached him at his club Porto once famously said: "Pinto has two hearts and four legs. It's extremely difficult to find a player like him."

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  CB: Fernando Couto

  Couto played at the 2002 World Cup as well as three European Championships during a 14-year spell for Portugal.

  He made his debut for the senior team in December 1990 in a 1-0 friendly win over United States.

  He went on to represent Portugal at the Euro 1996, scoring a memorable goal against Turkey in the group stages.

  Couto also featured at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup and became the first Portuguese player to reach 100 caps, in October 2003.

  He then captained Portugal at Euro 2004, where they reached the final.

  The defender played 110 games for Portugal before hanging up his boots.

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  CB: Pepe

  One of the best defenders of his generation, Pepe was actually born and raised in Brazil but opted to play for Portugal and thus gets to partner Couto at the back.

  Since 2007, he has made over 125 appearances for Portugal and has played at three World Cups and four Euros.

  Pepe was part of the Portugal team that won Euro 2016, as well as the one before that reached the semi-final of Euro 2012.

Marcus Rashford's goal made the difference for Man Utd in their win at Real Betis but Harry Maguire and David de Gea were also crucial.

Marcus Rashford put his name on the scoresheet but Harry Maguire and David de Gea were just as important to Manchester United earning a 1-0 victory (5-1 aggregate) in a cauldron of Real Betis noise.

Betis were far from discouraged from the three-goal deficit they were chasing from the first leg and caused Erik ten Hag's side a lot of problems, particularly in the first half. Veteran Joaquin got the better of a sluggish Casemiro and struck the outside of the post. Then, Juanmi burst through on goal against De Gea, but the Spaniard stood tall against his compatriot.

Rashford's goal tamed the home crowd and fully settled United down as the Red Devils comfortably booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Manchester United have inflicted pain on La Liga this term. Ten Hag has now eliminated Barcelona and Betis back-to-back, and he also defeated Real Sociedad in the group stage after Sociedad had earned a controversial victory earlier in the round.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Estadio Benito Villamarin.

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  WINNER: Harry Maguire

  United's captain has been a figure of fun for a long time now and, in addition to being the butt of many jokes, he must find it so tough to watch so many games from the bench.

  But he was in commanding form and rarely put a foot wrong.

  He played with his head, making sure he was always in the right position and did not allow himself to be run ragged by Betis' speedy forwards Juanmi and Aitor Ruibal.

  He made a super-brave block from a shot by Juanmi and was constantly cutting out dangerous passes.

  This was a night to restore some pride.

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• LOSER: La Liga teams in Europe

  Manchester United have come up against three La Liga teams in the Europa League this season and after six matches the balance reads four wins, one draw and one defeat.

  They outplayed runaway league leaders Barcelona for much of their play-off tie and, aside from this testing first half in Seville, were pretty much dominant against Betis, who are fifth.

  They did lose to Real Sociedad at Old Trafford and although they got their revenge in the away leg, they did ultimately finish second in their group to the Basques.

  But overall, United have bossed Spanish counterparts in the competition.

  And that is saying something, as United had been knocked out of Europe by Spanish sides in the previous five seasons. Sweet, sweet revenge.

  In this form, they will be hoping to face Sevilla in the quarter-finals.

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  WINNER: David de Gea

  De Gea was one of the few United players who had performed badly in the first leg, and Ten Hag admitted after the 4-1 win that he could not ignore his goalkeeper's poor kicking.

  But as he did against Southampton, De Gea was superb, stopping everything Betis threw at him.

  He has often been treated unfairly by the Spanish press for his performances for the national team so he must be pleased with how he performed back in his homeland.

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  LOSER: Juanmi

  The forward had a lot of space to run into in the first half and could have made United pay.

  But his finishing and final pass was poor, missing the chance to put his side in front.

  Who knows what would have happened if Betis had struck first.

  Their fans sounded like they felt a comeback was on and they will be asking themselves how differently the evening could have gone had Juanmi not spurned their best opportunities.

Sergi Roberto and Franck Kessie grabbed the goals as Barcelona's younger legs outran Real Madrid to earn a huge 2-1 victory in La Liga.

Real Madrid's midfield is not used to being outrun. But on Sunday night, the young legs of Barcelona's Gavi and Frenkie de Jong made the aging limbs of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos run out of steam. The Barca duo controlled things in and out of possession for the Blaugrana, pacing the side to a 2-1 comeback win that puts them on the brink of winning the 2022-23 La Liga title.

Madrid snagged the opener, much against the run of play. Vinicius Junior danced down the left side and floated a speculative cross off the head of Ronald Araujo and into the Barca net.

The Blaugrana spent the remainder of the first half in control of proceedings. De Jong was at the centre of it all, making driving runs forward and firing arrowed passes into the feet of Robert Lewandowski. The leveller eventually came moments before the interval, with Sergi Roberto capitalising on a series of deflections to lash the ball home from 10 yards out.

Carlo Ancelotti got a bit more fight out of some tiring legs in central midfield after the break, but Madrid seldom threatened. Instead, they were subject to a series of trips and bumps by an ever-active, often-irritating Gavi.

And when Madrid went all out for a winner in stoppage time, Barcelona took advantage. Alejandro Balde darted down the left before cutting the ball back across goal to a waiting Kessie, who couldn't miss.

By the end of it all, even the usually stoic Xavi was celebrating. He knows Barcelona have La Liga wrapped up.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Camp Nou…

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  WINNER: Frenkie de Jong

  Barcelona were close to selling De Jong to Manchester United last summer.

  After performances like this, they must be relieved that they didn't let him go. De Jong bossed the midfield for the Blaugrana, marking his best Clasico showing yet. This was always going to be a tricky one, with Madrid blending the experience of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric with the legs of Eduardo Camavinga.

  But De Jong made it look remarkably easy. He completed all but five of his passes, created five chances, and embarked on a series of meandering runs upfield to relieve pressure — just when Madrid appeared to be growing into the game. This is the player Barcelona thought they were getting four years ago. The good news for them is that he's finally arrived.

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  LOSER: Karim Benzema

  In the 79th minute, Benzema latched onto a wayward pass from Jules Kounde. The France striker took two steps, before shooting towards goal. But he miscued his effort, sending it trickling into the arms of Marc-Ander ter Stegen.

  It was a shot that encapsulated his performance. Benzema had his share of opportunities here, getting into the right positions and tallying 48 touches. But his signature clinical finishing was nowhere to be found. Benzema had four shots on the day. Two were blocked and a further two were tamely hit.

  The reigning Ballon d'Or winner is 35 and has been admittedly less prolific in front of goal this year. But seeing him skew chances and show hesitation in the box is rather puzzling. His latest off-day might just have cost Madrid the title.

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  WINNER: Gavi

  Real Madrid fans abhor Gavi. Barcelona fans adore him.

  Today, it was easy to see why.

  The midfielder wasn't particularly classy against Real. He didn't create a single chance and didn't get into the box as much as Xavi perhaps would have liked.

  Instead, he spent nearly 90 minutes making life horrible for Madrid players. He shoved Dani Carvajal in the chest, bumped Dani Ceballos over, and got away with at least one yellow card offence. There was also one blatant dive, and a series of trips and shoves. It was a very un-Barcelona performance, a dirty-work showing that this team isn't used to.

  But in title fights, it's such performances that can make the difference. And the bumps, shoves, trips and kicks did just enough to throw Real off.

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  LOSER: Carlo Ancelotti

  Will it be a trophyless season for Real Madrid?

  This loss saw La Liga slip away for good, while they face a 1-0 deficit to this Barca side in the Copa del Rey semi-final. And although the Madrid magic is very much a Champions League factor, they find themselves on the trickier side of the draw should they beat Chelsea in the last eight.

  And if so, who's to blame? Certainly, Los Blancos cannot be faulted for the improvement of Barcelona. But should they not have also developed enough as a side to fend off a team that hasn't quite reached its peak? The attention, then, should turn towards the manager.

  Ancelotti has been steadfast with his tactics this year, and Madrid haven't changed all that much from the side that won the double last season. That has served them well to a point. But teams have to evolve, managers have to find new ways of making their sides better. Today, Madrid were beaten by the better team, and Ancelotti was tactically defeated by a braver coach.

Real Madrid put four past Barcelona at Camp Nou to blow their arch rivals out of the water and book a place in the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday.

A second-half masterclass from Karim Benzema combined with a defensive horror show from Barcelona saw Real Madrid rout their Clasico rivals 4-0 to reach the Copa del Rey final.

Barca were relatively comfortable until the stroke of half-time, when Vinicius Jr gave Los Blancos the lead after a flowing counter-attack.

And Real recaptured some of their signature knockout-football mojo after the break, with Benzema leading the way. The Frenchman bagged a second-half hat-trick — his second in a row — to put Barcelona away. It was all too easy for Madrid, as the usually reliable Blaugrana defence collapsed under the weight of a Benzema masterclass.

Xavi's side will still win La Liga, but this Clasico humbling showed that they still have a long way to go.

GOAL rates Barcelona's players from Camp Nou…

• Goalkeeper & Defence

  Marc-Andre ter Stegen (5/10):

  Couldn't have done anything about any of the four goals, although he did get sent the wrong way on the penalty.

  Ronald Araujo (5/10):

  Thrust into another matchup with Vinicius Jr. Made one crucial intervention early, but lost the battle late.

  Jules Kounde (5/10):

  Tried in vain to divert Madrid's opener, but was caught out of position for Real's second. Doesn't have the best understanding with Alonso.

  Marcos Alonso (4/10):

  Unsteady for spells, and should have fouled Rodyrgo as he broke for Madrid's opener. Not a centre-back, and it shows.

  Alex Balde (6/10):

  Terrific going forward, including one wonderful run and cut-back. But was exposed defensively as the minutes wore on.

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• Midfield

  Franck Kessie (4/10):

  Started very well, but had a nightmare of a second half. Gave away a penalty for Madrid's third.

  Sergio Busquets (5/10):

  Up for the fight, but some of his passing was uncharacteristically poor. Completely lost as the game wore on.

  Sergi Roberto (5/10):

  Lots of energy, unafraid to tackle, but was poor defensively. Picked up a silly booking in the first half. The drop-off from Frenkie de Jong is massive.

  Gavi (6/10):

  Exchanged some words with Vinicius after a couple of hard fouls. Typically combative and smooth on the ball. Lacked his usual creative influence.

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  Attack

  Raphinha (4/10):

  Started brightly with an early effort on target but was locked down by the excellent Eduardo Camavinga thereafter. Tried to do too much, and was hooked after 66 minutes.

  Robert Lewandowski (6/10):

  Saw a shot saved by a diving Thibaut Courtois right at the end of the first half. His chances were limited thereafter.

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  Subs & Manager

  Ansu Fati (5/10):

  Charged with making something happen over the last 30 minutes. Unable to turn the tide.

  Eric Garcia (5/10):

  Not the kind of player to be introduced when you're chasing the game.

  Ferran Torres (5/10):

  Made some poor decisions, got booked.

  Xavi (4/10):

  Picked his strongest possible side, with Kessie, Roberto and Busquets filling out a physical midfield. Everything seemed to be going very well for 45 minutes, but then the Real Madrid knockout special happened. Barcelona were helpless in the second half and overrun by an experienced side. By the end of it all, Madrid should've had five. Xavi has a long way to go as a manager yet.

The fiery Italian was many United fans' choice to shake things up last season, but the club made an inspired move by opting against bringing him in

October 30, 2021: Tottenham were hosting Manchester United and both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Nuno Espirito Santos' jobs were on the line.

Solskjaer had just overseen a harrowing 5-0 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool, and the writing was on the wall for the Norwegian. In north London, his side overpowered Spurs, with goals from Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford ensuring Solskjaer lived to fight another day.

His opposite number was not so lucky. The defeat was the final straw for Daniel Levy and Nuno was sacked after only three months in charge.

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Spurs swiftly hired Antonio Conte, and 22 days after overseeing the 3-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Solskjaer was let go by United after another humiliating defeat, this time to Watford.

With Conte no longer available, there was a serious shortage of top coaches on the market. United decided to adjourn their search for a permanent manager until the summer and install Ralf Rangnick, a sporting director for most of his recent career, as interim coach.

The results were disastrous. The players did not respect Rangnick, who Ronaldo would later claim to have never heard of, and United sunk to their lowest points total in 30 years in the Premier League.

Tottenham, meanwhile, staged a remarkable turnaround to clinch fourth spot and Champions League football.

At the time, the decision to keep faith with Solskjaer and allow Conte to go to Tottenham looked like yet another woeful move from United's hierarchy.

One year on, however, not hiring Conte appears to have been a masterstroke.

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  Avoiding a short-term fix

  Tottenham are now a laughing stock, having parted ways with Conte and then sacking his interim successor, Cristian Stellini, less than a month later.

  United, meanwhile, are enjoying one of their best campaigns since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement under Erik ten Hag.

  They have a trophy in the bag and are in a strong position to finish in the top four. They are six points ahead of Tottenham heading into Thursday's match, with two games in hand, and a win would practically doom Spurs' hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

  On the same day Tottenham were humiliated 6-1 by Newcastle, United were reaching the FA Cup final. The contrast in emotions between the two fanbases could not be greater.

  While Conte was a tempting short-term fix, Ten Hag was a bet on the future, and United's much-maligned sporting director John Murtough and chief executive Richard Arnold deserve a huge amount of credit for having the vision to see that and making the right decision.

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  An antidote to Solskjaer's soft touch

  But looking back to the chaos of last season under Solskjaer, it is easy to see why certain fans and pundits felt Conte was the right man to solve United's deep problems.

  The Norwegian had fostered a culture of acceptance of being second best. He had allowed the squad to become too comfortable. According to one report, he barely criticised the team after a shock defeat by Sheffield United which derailed their title bid in the 2020-21 season.

  To the chagrin of fans, he had also not put enough pressure on the board and the Glazer family to back him in the transfer market.

  To cap it all, in almost three years in charge, he had failed to win a trophy.

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  Dragging teams back to glory

  The contrast between Solskjaer and Conte couldn't have been bigger.

  The Italian had won the league with practically every team he had coached, often dragging teams straight back to glory after years in the wilderness such as Juventus or Inter, or after a miserable season, as he did at Chelsea.

  He instantly raised standards, and he was never afraid to tell those higher up his true feelings.

  To United fans tired of managers being too passive with the Glazers, Conte was the perfect man to shake things up and lead the fightback.

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  Ranting and raving only gets you so far

  However, Tottenham have realised that, rather like Jose Mourinho before him, Conte leaves scorched earth wherever he goes. And what he might see as high demands are interpreted by others as a tendency to lose his rag.

  His ranting press conference after the draw with Southampton was the most flagrant example of him throwing his toys out of the pram and ultimately led to him leaving, but it was far from his first outburst.

  Many fans and pundits thought he was about to resign just three months into his tenure after defeat at Burnley, when he said he was not capable of improving the team and questioned whether it was right for him to take a salary from the club.

  Spurs’ players lived in constant fear of being laid into by the Italian, while fans constantly thought he was about to walk away.

  Even though they achieved epic wins over the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal, there was always a chaotic feeling to the team. And that is no platform to build on, as his miserable second season proved.