Tottenham: Djed Spence reveals Antonio Conte 'shattered my confidence' with transfer comments | OneFootball

Spence had only one conversation with the Italian after his £20m move

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Djed Spence says former Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte "shattered my confidence" by describing him as a club signing shortly after he joined Spurs from Middlesbrough in summer 2022.

"It wasn’t a nice feeling," Spence told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast. "Especially as I was coming to the club on a high, I was confident, I was buzzing, had just won promotion.

"Then it was like running into a brick wall. It shattered my confidence a bit, obviously I’m young. It’s not nice to hear.

"I knew it was rubbish at the time. It wasn’t a nice feeling. I was even going into the club like [puffs out cheeks] and, ‘What am I doing?’”

“I feel like whatever I did, that man [Conte] wasn’t happy about anything," Spence added.

"Even if you did the right things, you were like, ‘Did I do the right thing?’ Cos he’s not really a complimenting guy.

"It gets to a point where you don’t really need validation from a coach. You just go, ‘Oh’.

"I probably had one conversation with him."

Djed Spence says Antonio Conte’s comments shattered his confidence

AFP via Getty Images

Spence was loaned out to French club Rennes for the second half of his first season at Spurs and his fortunes did not initially improve when Conte was permanently succeeded by Ange Postecoglou in summer 2023.

Spence, who has since been outstanding for Postecoglou's inconsistent side, believes he was not given a fair chance in the Australian's first summer at the club.

"When a new manager comes in you think, 'Alright, everyone's going to get a fair chance, he's going to have a look at everyone'," he said.

"With me, I don't think that was really the case. But that's part of the game of the game of football. Football's not fair.

"[Postecoglou] just said basically I need to go out and play and that's when I ended up going to Leeds.

"Sometimes you might not get a chance that you feel like you deserve. I've always known I was good enough. People say, 'It's good to see he's got a second chance and he's doing well'. I never really got the first chance.

"This is my first chance and I'm taking it. I'm just happy I worked hard, I stayed consistent and I was ready."

Djed Spence has shone under Ange Postecoglou this season

Getty Images

He added: “I feel like with Conte [training] was very repetitive. We would literally do the same situation every day. With Ange, it’s a bit different. We do change it. He switches it up every day."

But Spence admitted that he was not able to be himself on joining Spurs, claiming he was "too humble" and afraid to "express himself" after stepping up to the Premier League from the Championship.

"I think I’ve been a victim of being too humble," he said. "Thinking things are just going to happen by not doing nothing and not saying nothing. But sometimes you have to express yourself.

"In my first year at Tottenham, I feel I gave a bit too much respect to the players and the surroundings, because it’s Tottenham. I came from Forest, I’m going to the Premier League, a top-six club, and I thought, 'Phew, this is big'.

"I feel I gave them too much respect in regards I didn’t really be myself.

"When I went there, I saw players who were big names like Harry Kane and Sonny [Heung-min Son], and I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

"But that was probably my biggest mistake, doing that and not expressing myself how I should have. I’d say this season [that's changed]. I’ve got no time to waste now. I’ve got to go get it, it’s time."