The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham news and links for Thursday, May 12

Good morning hoddlers and happy thursday. is it a happy thursday? i don’t think i’ll know the answer until after the north london derby.

Sometimes I ask myself: How much do I know about Antonio Conte? Like, really know about Antonio Conte?

It turns out I know very little - or used to. The Tottenham manager recently sat down with Sky Sports for one of those fun “Web’s Most Search Questions” segments.

Here are some of the more interesting questions that were answered:

Who was Conte’s good at school?

Conte said he was a good student, but never the “fastest or brightest”. But it appears his family did a good job in encouraging him to go to school, promising that good grades meant he could play football.

The manager admitted that if he didn’t pursue a career in football, he would have been a teacher. This makes a lot of sense in the way that Conte speaks on the philosophy of football and how he talks with his players. I’d like to have Conte teach me literally anything.

Who were his favourite players to manage?

Conte mostly went through his old teammates at Juventus, because he had the chance to manage some of them as well.

But the interesting part here - and thanks to the Sky Sports moderator - were his comments on Harry Kane. Of course Kane is a world class player, but Conte wanted to “underline the human aspect”.

Conte said sometimes players at that level can be lazy and not like to work with others. Instead Kane “has great desire to improve himself”, Conte said, noting how good a player he is in training. Kane really is a manager’s dream.

Is Conte romantic?

He doesn’t consider himself to be much of a romantic - and even admitted he doesn’t remember his anniversary (with apologies to Mrs Antonio Conte). And has anyone ever heard of Conte being “lazy”? Well apparently he is, when it comes to buying presents.

Does Conte like boxing?

Conte likes his boxing, but he’s never seen it live. And why would he when he’s focused on Tottenham?

But if there’s an important match that “happened in our stadium, in our fantastic stadium ... I said to the owner that I would want to go to watch because for sure it would be a fantastic atmosphere”.

Well, that’s certainly promising, isn’t it?

Fitzie’s track of the day: Five More Minutes, by The War and Treaty

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: Conte believes Spurs need “time and patience” to win the Premier League

The Athletic ($): Spurs unrecognisable from team that would have faced Arsenal in January

Forest Green furious after Watford appoint Rob Edwards as manager

Celtic regain Scottish Premiership title

Transfer news: West Ham offer Declan Rice eight-year contract