...but what was he doing axing Costa by text message?

HAVING been a manager, I have plenty of sympathy with Antonio Conte in dealing with an emotional character like Diego Costa. As a manager, all you want to do is focus on what you have and the games ahead rather than worry about players who aren’t available to you and the political problems they may be causing.

But, given all that, I still found it hard to believe that Conte had chosen to inform Costa he was no longer in his plans via text message.

It may be the case, as Conte has said, that this shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Costa, if the striker had been agitating for a move for some time. But even so, you’d surely want that meeting face to face.

We don’t know what went on last season, how emphatic Costa was that he wanted to leave. But even so, you would sit him down, look him in the eye after the high of winning the title and say: ‘Now, do you still want to leave?’

And if he still did, then you would say you’d help him get a move; as long as he helped you. That would mean reporting for training, getting fit and looking sharp, so the club could get the best price. And, as a manager, you never know when you might need someone.

It would have been useful to call on Costa now, even just for August. Conte looks like he has been let down by the board in some areas. But here, he has made a bad situation worse.