'Several' Spurs players want Antonio Conte SACKED after rant following Southampton draw

Antonio Conte’s explosive meltdown following Tottenham’s draw against Southampton could see him sacked during the international break.

The Spurs boss labelled his players as ‘selfish’ with no ‘heart’ or ‘desire’ after they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Former Tottenham midfielder and talkSPORT host Jamie O’Hara believes Conte’s rant was a plea to the board to axe him after he also hit out at the ownership of the club.

Conte is only tied down in north London until the end of the season, but it remains to be seen whether he will still be in charge after the international break.

A number of the Spurs squad want the club to wield the axe on him before the Premier League recommences on April 1.

Conte is understood to have told the club’s hierarchy that he was not aiming criticism at them.

talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook said: “Well we don’t know if they have accepted that [he wasn’t digging out the club] because I think Conte’s future is still in the balance. He’s gone back to Italy, I still don’t think it’s guaranteed he’ll be in the dugout when the Premier League resumes after the international break. 

“I think it’s a very difficult position he has put the Tottenham board in now because I know there are a lot of unhappy players in the Spurs dressing room anyway. 

“There will be more many more now because he has literally chucked them under the proverbial bus, and he was having a pop at the hierarchy because he mentioned the last 20 years. 

“None of the players have been there for the last 20 years, obviously the constant in recent times has been Daniel Levy. 

“From a journalistic point of view, it was box office. I spoke to him in the tunnel immediately after the game and it struck me as a speech he was determined to say at some point. 

“Now, had they have dropped points at home to Nottingham Forest the previous week, I think it would have come out then.”

Conte’s rant over the weekend was remarkable and was the major talking point.

His fiery words dominated the news agenda and his relationship now seems beyond repair.

He said: “The problem is we have shown we are not a team. We are 11 players.

“I see selfish players. I see players that don’t want to help each other, don’t play with heart.

“It is the same every season, no matter who the manager is. They’re used to it here.

“Don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure. They don’t want to play under stress.

“Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stay here.

“I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench. You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment.

“Until now I try to hide the situation but now, no, because I repeat I don’t want to see what I’ve seen today because this is unacceptable and also unacceptable for the fans.

“They follow us, pay the ticket and to see the team another time to have this type of performance is unacceptable. We have to think a lot about this.”

Spurs face Everton on their return to Premier League action on April 3.