Chelsea fans of course have first-hand knowledge of what Antonio Conte brings to the role when he manages a team. Ahead of today’s contest against our former head coach’s team, the man now holding the Blues reins has been talking about his counterpart at Tottenham.
Graham Potter acknowledges there is a contrast in their demeanours on the touchline [although Conte will not be there for today’s game due to his continuing recovery from surgery] but that does not affect his admiration for the Italian and his career. As Potter has made clear previously, he believes in authenticity when deciding how to carry himself in his job.
‘Antonio Conte is himself and I don't look at how he is and look down on him in any way,’ our head coach says.
‘Anybody that is a different person to me, I don't think I am better than them. The best person to be Antonio Conte is Antonio Conte, the best person to be Graham Potter is Graham Potter. That's how I see it.
‘Everybody's different and I don't think he's being fake. He's himself and you can't help who you are. That's just life.
‘Of course you can play a role but in the end I think you have to be yourself. But it isn't nice when people then start to criticise you for being you because I can't help being me and it has served me quite well.
‘I started off in the ninth tier of English football so it's not so easy to get to this point. You have to have some resilience, you have to have some passion, you have to have some emotion, you have to have some courage.’
It has earned Potter the position as one of Conte’s successors at Chelsea where he now has the opportunity to take on Tottenham in this London derby for the first time. The man who managed Chelsea between 2016 and 2018 took over at Spurs in 2021.
Potter reveals that Conte has previously sent him messages of advice such as concentrating on doing your best in the present rather than focusing on the future or the past.
‘Antonio's has had an amazing career,’ he adds. ‘I have huge respect for him as a player, huge respect for him as a coach, but also the man, I really like him.
‘I've spoken with him when I was at Brighton, we've had conversations and I've sort of kept contact with him from a distance, as someone I've admired a lot as a coach and knowing how his teams are organised.
‘He is a gentleman, he has passion, he is different to me but I think he is a top guy.’