Underfire manager Antonio Conte insists Chelsea would be ‘stupid’ if they sacked him.
Conte is widely expected to leave Chelsea at the end of the season after just two years in charge but could even go before then.
The Italian, who led Chelsea to the Premier League title in his first season in charge, is under increasing pressure following a run of poor results.
Chelsea have lost successive Premier League matches by a margin of at least three goals for the first time since October 1995 and former Watford manager Marco Silva and Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique have already been tipped as potential replacements.
Conte has constantly hit out at Chelsea’s recruitment policy and even called for the club to public back his position as manager. Now the 48-year-old thinks they would be stupid if they sacked him.
“In my opinion, you continue to work with a manager or coach not because of what he achieves in one season, but because you trust in him,” The Daily Mirror quote Conte as saying.
“It doesn’t mean you have to win something, because that’s not simple - especially in England. In my vision, you can win but still the club might not be happy to stay with you - and for this reason, it’s right to send the coach away.
“At the same time, you can trust in a coach and his work and continue with him even if you don’t win, and try and build something important. I think there are two ways. There is a stupid way and an intelligent way.
“This is just my opinion. If the club decides to send me away, it’ll be because they’re not happy with my work.”
Tottenham’s win over Arsenal on Saturday means Chelsea have dropped out of the top four, but will have the chance to move back into the Champions League positions when they play West Brom on Monday.
However, the defending Premier League champions have only won two of their last 10 matches in all competitions.
In fact, if the league table only accounted for results picked up in 2018, Chelsea would only be one-point above the bottom three.
