The alleged serial winner who never gives up lost and gave up

Antonio Conte has left Tottenham "by mutual agreement" after 16 months in charge, the Premier League club announced on Sunday. His departure comes after the Italian's extraordinary post-match rant following a 3-3 draw at Southampton on March 18, a game in which they blew a 3-1 lead.

The 53-year-old, who took over in November 2021, will be replaced by his assistant Cristian Stellini until the end of the season, the north London club said in an official statement late on Sunday.

"We can announce that head coach Antonio Conte has left the club by mutual agreement. We achieved Champions League qualification in Antonio's first season at the club. We thank Antonio for his contribution and wish him well for the future. Cristian Stellini will take the team as acting head coach for the remainder of the season, along with Ryan Mason as assistant head coach."

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy called everyone associated with the club for unity.

"We have 10 Premier League games remaining and we have a fight on our hands for a Champions League place. We all need to pull together. Everyone has to step up to ensure the highest possible finish for our club and amazing, loyal supporters."

His departure means Spurs are looking for a fourth manager in four years since Argentine Mauricio Pochettino left the club in 2019. Conte's Premier League record in charge of Tottenham has been 32 wins, nine draws and 15 defeats. With 1.88 points on average, he is in second place, right behind Pochettino who has more. Third is Andre Villas Boas with 1.83, Harry Redknapp has 1.74, and Jose Mourinho 1.64... In previous days, German expert Julian Nagelsmann, who was fired last week by Bayern, was mentioned as a possible solution for the Tottenham bench. Germany's Bild claimed last week that they had an exclusive - Oliver Glazner, the man who performed a minor miracle with Eintracht Frankfurt last season, bringing him the Europa League trophy and a historic place in the Champions League, is said to be on the short list of candidates to take over in Tottenham. The Spurs are in the fourth place of the Premier League, but they have only two points more than Newcastle, but also two matches more than the Magpies, while the sixth-placed Liverpool is also threatening. Conte won league titles in his previous three spells in club management at Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan, but was unable to end Tottenham's 15-year wait to win a major trophy. His contract was due to expire at the end of the season. Conte labelled his players "selfish" and accused them of not being able to perform under pressure in an extraordinary tirade after the draw against Southampton. He also took aim at Tottenham's long trophy drought and pinned the blame on a culture of repeatedly changing managers. Conte arrived at Spurs in November 2021 with the reputation of a ruthless serial winner who could transform the fortunes of a club whose last English league title was in 1961.

Conte's time in north London was also blighted by personal tragedy and ill-health. Gian Piero Ventrone, a long time member of Conte's staff as a fitness coach, died suddenly in October. Two close friends and former players, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Gianluca Vialli, have also died in recent months. Conte had to undergo emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder last month, which forced him to take two spells away from the touchline to recover. But his return did not have the desired effect in galvanising his players, who had lost 1-0 to second-tier Sheffield United in the FA Cup fifth round in his absence. Spurs crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage after a disappointing 1-0 aggregate defeat to AC Milan.

Levy reportedly became concerned about Conte's mood swings this season. There were claims the squad were tired of their manager's acerbic tongue, while fans bemoaned his perceived negative tactics. The chairman would surely have preferred to keep Conte to avoid the upheaval triggered by a coaching change at such a critical time of the season. But the manager's stinging criticism of his underachieving stars made his relationship with Levy more tricky.