After Wednesday’s 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Bournemouth, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte cut a frustrated figure at his post-match press-conference. Unfortunately for most Chelsea fans, this is becoming ever more common place, as the Italian tactician’s ongoing feud with the clubs power brokers continues to be played out in public. 
 

Looking tired and totally deflated, Conte told reporters that Chelsea (who played against the Cherries without a recognised striker) would have to make the best of what they have for the rest of the campaign; another sideswipe at Blues owner, Roman Abramovich, despite having landed big Frenchman Olivier Giroud from Arsenal on deadline day.
 

The writing was on the wall for Conte before a ball had even been kicked this season; coming off the back of a title winning campaign in his first season in the Premier League, the club failed to deliver to him, his main summer transfer targets.
 

Those that did come in have failed to set Stamford Bridge alight; Alvaro Morata, the Spanish striker (who was never Conte’s first-choice) was given the job of replacing Diego Costa in attack and although the 25-year-old has netted 10 times in 20 top-flight appearances this season, he is still far from the finished article.
 

Tiemoue Bakayoko arrived from Monaco to fill the shoes of Nemanja Matic, who absconded to Manchester United and the big Frenchman has found it tough going in the Premier League and has yet to justify his €40M (£36M) price-tag.


 

Abramovich has not been patient with his managers since keeping Jose Mourinho for three seasons at the start of his reign as Chelsea supremo. But even by the Russian’s standards, the way that the current campaign has played out has been chaotic with uncertainty now casting a shadow over the entire club.
 

With reports now linking former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique with the Stamford Bridge hot-seat, we could even have a situation where Conte will not even be at the club at Easter, never mind the end of the season.


 

A Champions League double-header against Barcelona is hardly the opponent you’d want to play to ensure job security, but the news from Italy this week, that a new head of the FIGC (Italian Football Federation) has been appointed, could be Conte’s passport out of England.
 

The new man at the helm is Roberto Fabbricini, who is also the General Secretary at CONI (the Italian Olympic Committee) and he has been given the task of choosing a successor to Gian Piero Ventura, who was sacked following the Azzurri’s failure to qualify for this summer’s World Cup in Russia.


 

According to latest reports from Italy, Conte is in a four-man race for the job alongside former Inter and Manchester City, now Zenit St Petersburg boss, Roberto Mancini, the ex-Chelsea boss and currently unemployed Carlo Ancelotti and another former Blues tactician and Premier League winner with Leicester City, Claudio Ranieri.
 

Ancelotti has already stated that he prefers to go back into club management; Ranieri is having fun in France with Nantes, which really narrows the contest down to two.
 

Conte seems to have unfinished business with the national team, having acquitted himself rather well in the European Championships in 2016. There is also the fact that with no tournament football to prepare for this summer, the new Head-Coach will have time to put together a squad ahead of qualification for the 2020 Euro’s which will not start until March 2019.


 

Fabbricini will entrust the help of former AC Milan and Italy legend Alessandro Costacurta in his search for a new boss, but with Conte having previous experience in the role and the fact that he seems ready to pack his bags at a moment’s notice; his days in England may be measured in weeks, not months.


Steve Mitchell

@barafundler