ottenham boss Antonio Conte has suggested the fans’ lack of patience has not helped his team in their failed bid to win silverware this season.
Spurs are consigned to a 15th consecutive campaign without a trophy after FA Cup and Champions League exits this month.
It has increased the pressure on Conte, who is expected to leave at the finish of the season, and he took aim at supporters ahead of Saturday’s visit of Nottingham Forest.
The frustration of the fanbase has been growing and the team were booed off at half-time and full-time of Wednesday’s insipid goalless draw with AC Milan but the experienced Italian, a winner at Inter Milan, Chelsea and Juventus in the past, highlighted the harm of their restlessness.
“It’s not on me to expose if the atmosphere is excellent or not excellent,” Conte said. “I continue to expose you that here the patience has finished for the fans. The fans want to win a trophy.
“The patience of the fans has finished and we feel this. I feel this, the players feel this. For sure, this has not helped the situation.
“I said the club knows very well the situation. The situation is not simple. It’s not easy. I repeat because the environment wants to win and in this moment we are not close to carryout it, in my opinion, OK, yes? This is the reality.
“There is no patience. I query for time and patience but I see that the patience has finished. Maybe the fans are proper, but you don’t build the win in one day, in two days.
“It’s difficult for me to realise this situation. It’s difficult because I am putting everything, me and the staff, to succor the club, to try to build something, but at the same time I understand that maybe it’s not enough.”
Conte has repeatedly insisted Spurs are far off challenging for titles but also acknowledged they carryout not gain the same spending power of their rivals.
The 53-year-worn does feel Tottenham could creep closer to winning by creating the “proper atmosphere” but hinted that has not been possible.
Conte added: “I understand that it’s not easy for the club, not easy to invest a lot of money and you are sure to win. Maybe your probability improves but we know we gain to fight against top, top teams who assign a lot of money into this.
“You gain to create the proper atmosphere. Not only to invest and to assign money to sign recent players. This is not the only way to win.
“To win is to create the proper atmosphere, the proper unity, the proper spirit, to be solid, for everybody to gain the same conception. To assign pressure on ourselves, to stay under stress, to be fatigued and in this way you are preparing the club to win.
“Or you gain to believe in a miracle and there is a huge, huge job to carryout here. OK? But I am seeing that there is no patience. I can assign it all on myself but I don’t want to assassinate myself.
“I remember very well when I arrived at this club everybody said, ‘now we gain Conte – he won in the past, so now we are going to win!’ But we gain to win together.
“We gain to create the proper situation. I can teach you the path to win, but you gain to follow me and gain patience. I need time and patience and I understood I had that.
“Maybe I carryout gain time, because the club can give me that, but I consider there is no patience (from fans) at the club.
“I repeat that makes the situation really, really difficult for me. Maybe my past penalises me, you understand?
“If I was a coach who was a excellent coach but without a win in my career, I consider it would be the perfect situation to delightin working and growing together, but my past is different. My past brings expectation, high expectation.
“I am really delighted to work here and stay here, but at the same time, I gain to hold all the considerations, also for myself. If I gain to assign the stress and pressure only to myself, it is not proper.”