Bosses get nasty, let’s have lot more of it
One hopes the League Managers Association has a strong message for Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.
Something along the lines of: “Carry on, boys, this is great”.
Those wishing to halt Conte and Mourinho’s spat ought to pipe down, turn off social media and spend the next few weeks in a darkened room overdosing on images more in tune with a sensitive disposition; just watch your box set of Last of the Summer Wine and let the rest of us look forward to the next instalment of managers at war.
Why discourage them from tearing a strip off each other? Yes, it is very undignified. Of course it exposes deep insecurities and egomania. But it is riveting to see them unable to utter each other’s name for fear of blistering their tongue.
When Chelsea travel to Old Trafford, forget the game. Just hand Conte and Mourinho a microphone and turn United’s press room into a recreation of the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Conte and Mourinho: the Bette Davies and Joan Crawford of the Premier League.
Some worry this feud will spiral further out of control. Splendid. The more personal and vindictive it gets, the better.
There is nothing more satisfying than the artifice of managers respecting their peers crumbling. Let the public see and hear what they really think of each other. The most successful managers cannot stand each other. They think they are superior and would crawl over barbed wire to steal each other’s jobs.
At least 90 per cent of the most successful coaches possess idiosyncrasies making it impossible for lesser mortals to avoid the conclusion that they are very odd.
Too many psychologists have published studies into the benefits of being a sociopath if you want to be an extremely successful leader for the notion not to have merit. The greatest are so great because of their imperfections as much as their strengths. As long as you win trophies regularly, fans forgive managers just about anything.
So, don’t appeal for Conte and Mourinho to kiss and make up. Let this one go the distance.