Sunday 6 March 2016 12:04, UK
Chelsea would be appointing a similar type of manager to Jose Mourinho if they make Antonio Conte their next head coach, according to the Sunday Supplement panel.
The Italy boss is expected to take over from interim manager Guus Hiddink at Stamford Bridge this summer, reports Sky Italy.
Conte would bring with him a track record of success from the three years he spent managing Juventus, where he won three Serie A titles in a row between 2012-14.
However, the Italian is also a combustible figure in the style of Mourinho, according to the Sun's head of sport Shaun Custis.
In January 2010 police were needed to intervene to prevent an altercation between Conte and his own fans when he was coaching Atalanta and two years later he was banned from football for four months for failing to report alleged match-fixing while in charge at Siena.
New York City playmaker Andrea Pirlo, who worked under Conte at Juventus, recently described his former boss as a "beast".
Abramovich doesn't look long term - Conte's just the latest manager off the designer shopping rails to a certain extent
"There is a beast in him," Pirlo said. "I have been in his dressing room at half-time when we have been winning, but he comes in and will be throwing full bottles of water around because of a mistake we made or because he feels we should be further ahead."
Speaking about Conte on the Supplement, Custis said: "He is fairly controversial. He's also a fairly lively character.
"You hear that [owner Roman] Abramovich has had enough of Mourinho and you bring in a guy who is madder, certainly on the touchline.
"We've had a lovely calm under Hiddink where it's almost Sven-Goran Eriksson like. He's calm, he's lovely, everything runs along. Look how the players have responded, everybody's happy and this is the way to go.
"But you're talking to Hiddink in the week and ask is there any chance of staying on and he says: 'No certainly not.' There was never any question of him staying.
"It seems like they are going back to a guy who knows how to win, but is a similar type of character and you think: 'This is going to be volatile again.' Do Chelsea really want to have all that volatility again, even though he is a winning manager?
"[Abramovich] swings back and forward - You have [Carlo] Ancelotti, who was a wonderful, calm, authoritative figure, then Hiddink, who is slightly less authoritative, but similarly calm figure. And then you have Mourinho and then you have Conte. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground."
If Conte, 46, does takes charge at Chelsea next season, he will need to hit the ground running, with The Times' Chief Football writer Henry Winter saying that at the end of the day it will be results that determine his future at the club.
"Results will dictate everything and he'll go with the tried and trusted and the expensive [players] probably from Italy," said Winter.
Another option would be for Chelsea to try and persuade Hiddink to stay at Stamford Bridge this summer.
Hiddink returned to coach the club for a second time in December following the sacking of Mourinho, with the champions struggling near the foot of the Premier League.
Since the experienced Dutchman's arrival in west London, though, Chelsea have not lost in 10 league games, a run that has seen them move up to 11th in the table.
Despite the impressive results Hiddink has achieved since arriving at Chelsea - the 69-year-old also had a similar impact at the club after replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari in February 2009 - the Blues are still set to appoint Conte.
However, The Daily Mirror's sports columnist Andy Dunn thinks that while Conte has all the credentials to be a success at Chelsea next season, owner Roman Abramovich would be best served keeping hold of Hiddink.
"He won three times on the spin with Juventus and is doing very well with Italy," he told the Sunday Supplement.
"I think on a basic level, you'll have to allow for readjustment. Even though he is a proven, successful club manager, you would have a period of readjustment from national coach back to club manager.
"It seems like now, and I agree, that a lot of people are saying wouldn't the obvious solution be to try and persuade Hiddink to stay on for a little while - but he's not going to stay on for a long, long term.
"But then again Abramovich doesn't look long term. He's just the latest manager off the designer shopping rails to a certain extent."
