Antonio Conte says he is "enjoying every single moment" at Tottenham as he nears a year in charge of the Premier League club.
Conte, appointed in November 2021, has not always portrayed his time in London in quite such a positive light, outlining the need for improvement and investment in order to seriously challenge.
Meanwhile, his Spurs contract is set to expire at the end of the season.
But ahead of Saturday's match with Bournemouth – Tottenham's final league game before November 2, the date on which Conte was appointed last year – the Italian spoke in glowing terms of his "adventure".
"I always say that I am enjoying my time in Tottenham," he said. "In one year, we had a great path together, with the club, the players, the fans and you [media].
"I think I am enjoying every single moment in my adventure in Tottenham. For sure, I discover a modern club, a club with a fantastic training ground and an amazing stadium.
"[I discovered] the passion of the fans, at the same time the demands of our fans – the demand is very high. I continue to enjoy every day."
Conte has guided Tottenham to third, although he and the club approach his anniversary on a tough run.
Spurs lost consecutive Premier League matches to top-six rivals Manchester United and Newcastle United, before they were held by Sporting CP in the Champions League as a late Harry Kane winner was struck off.
Conte fumed after that decision, which followed a lengthy VAR delay deep into stoppage time, and he had no interest in reframing his thoughts on Friday.
"I said what I said," he told reporters, adding: "I didn't change my mind."
Tottenham had already been frustrated by the officiating in the Newcastle defeat, as Hugo Lloris complained he was fouled in an incident involving Callum Wilson that led to the opening goal.
Spurs appealed at length to the referee, only for the goal to be awarded regardless, and the Football Association confirmed on Friday the club had accepted a £20,000 fine for "failing to ensure that its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion".
De Rossi 'can do great things' at Roma, says former team-mate Cafu
Cafu admits he did not see former team-mate Daniele De Rossi becoming a head coach, but hopes the Roma boss can "do great things" with the Giallorossi.
The former midfielder replaced Jose Mourinho in the Stadio Olimpico dugout in January on a deal until the end of the season, and has overseen nine victories in 14 Serie A games - only losing to newly crowned champions Inter and fourth-place Bologna.
De Rossi's glittering career at Roma as a player, which brought over 600 appearances across an 18-year period, was in its infancy when he briefly played alongside Cafu for the Giallorossi during the early 2000s.
The former Brazil captain, who played 217 times between 1997 and 2003, helped the club win the Scudetto under Fabio Capello in the 2000-01 season, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2012.
And the 53-year-old has been delighted by the strides De Rossi has made since their playing days.
"I know him well. He's that kid who used to play with us, who we saw grow up at Roma," Cafu told Stats Perform. "Now, he has become the boss of one of the most important teams in the world and in Italy, which is Roma.
"Things change a lot in football. He seemed to be a shy and calm guy, and yet he grew up, becoming this really great coach. We have to wish him good luck. I hope he can do great things.
"I am very happy when I see that my team-mates are doing well, working as coaches, deputy coaches, athletic trainers. It is always very pleasing for me to see that they have grown a lot in the world of football.
"It is even more pleasing to see that kid grow up, a kid that now has become a coach, a great one; I am very happy."
De Rossi is also overseeing another impressive European campaign for Roma, who were Europa League runners-up to Sevilla last term and back in the semi-finals of this season's competition.
The Giallorossi are gearing up for a mouth-watering showdown with newly crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, who are unbeaten in all competitions.
"It's always hard to say when you're talking about two great teams," Cafu added. "Both Bayer and Roma are playing really well. I hope Roma can play a great game and get as far as they can."
Bruno Fernandes hints at Manchester United departure
Bruno Fernandes hinted he may leave Manchester United in the close season, but insisted he will not consider his future until after the European Championship.
The United skipper has been one of the Red Devils' standout performers during a tricky campaign for Erik ten Hag's side, who are sixth in the Premier League and six points behind fifth-place Tottenham with three games remaining.
Fernandes has chipped in with 26 direct goal involvements (15 goals, 11 assists) - the most by any United player - and became the first player to create over 100 chances in the Premier League this term during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Burnley.
The club are reportedly prepared to sell most of their top players in the close season under the new Jim Ratcliffe regime, though the Portugal international is still under contract at Old Trafford until June 2026.
With the European Championship and an FA Cup final against Manchester City on the horizon, the 29-year-old says that remains his top priority and he will focus on his future further down the line.
"I'm not thinking about other things at the moment. Obviously, it doesn't just depend on me, does it?" he told DAZN Portugal.
"A player always has to want to be here, but at the same time, you have to want him to stay. At the moment, I feel there's that on both sides.
"I'm not thinking too much about the future, not least because this season hasn't been at the level I’d hoped for - either individually or collectively - so far.
"If I have to think about not continuing in the Premier League, it won't be until after the Euros. Nothing will be able to take my focus away from the FA Cup final and the Euros, as there's nothing more important than that at the moment."
Howard Webb admits Forest should have had penalty in controversial Everton defeat
Howard Webb admitted officials got one of the big decisions wrong in Nottingham Forest's controversial Premier League defeat to Everton this month.
Forest were beaten 2-0 at Goodison Park on April 21 but were left fuming that referee Anthony Taylor did not award a penalty despite three separate calls involving Ashley Young.
Following the game, Forest released a controversial statement on the social media platform X - formerly Twitter - that hinted at the fact VAR Stuart Attwell was a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town and should not have been involved in the game.
Webb was speaking about the incidents on the Mic'd Up TV programme and claimed that while the first decisions were "really subjective calls", the third one , which saw Young challenge Callum Hudson-Odoi, should have resulted in a penalty for Nuno Espirito Santo's team.
"The referee waves away the penalty appeal. The VAR looks at it and asks himself the question, 'Was the non-award clearly and obviously wrong?' and came to the conclusion it wasn't," Webb said.
"He doesn't see a clear action by Young that he considers to be worthy of intervention, one that reaches the threshold of being very clear.
"But we would have preferred an intervention for the referee to go to the screen to make a judgement for himself in this situation and probably would have come out with a different outcome if that would've happened."
"The game is played by human beings, it's officiated by human beings. And obviously our job is to try to ensure that we have a positive impact on the game by identifying correct decisions on the field. This wasn't one.
"But of course they're humans making judgements as well, so we always are trying to reduce the number of errors that we that we make."
Webb also said referee Michael Oliver will have been "really disappointed" to have not originally spotted a foul by Declan Rice on Ben Davies as Arsenal beat Tottenham 3-2 in the North London derby on Sunday, with a VAR intervention eventually awarding a spot-kick.
"I know Michael [Oliver] will be really disappointed," added Webb.
"He had a really good game. He's one of our top referees and one of the top referees in the world."
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