Tottenham Hotspur reporter Alex Crook has revealed how excited the Spurs squad is to work under Antonio Conte, the club's new manager.
The Lowdown: Spurs hire Conte
Antonio Conte has been hired as Tottenham's new manager, replacing Nuno Espirito Santo after the Portuguese was sacked on Monday. The Italian has put pen to paper on an 18-month contract.
It is not yet sure whether he will take charge of the club's match in the UEFA Europa Conference League against Vitesse Arnhem (via The Express), where Spurs could do with a win as they sit third in their group, but he will definitely be in dugout for the Premier League clash with Everton at the weekend.
The Lilywhites have fallen behind their rivals in the race for European football next season, but a win against the Toffees could turn things around quickly - three points may even put Conte's new squad within a win of the top four if other results go their way.
The Latest: Crook makes squad claim
Speaking to talkSPORT, Crook dropped a behind the scenes verdict from Hotspur Way on how much Spurs' players are looking forward to working with Conte. He explained:
"The vibe I'm getting is the players are genuinely quite excited and quite enthused by this."
The Verdict: About time...
Conte is the fifth manager some of Spurs' squad will have played under in north London in just under three years. Mauricio Pochettino was much-loved (via The Metro), but since then, the Lilywhites have failed to find the right boss to take over a squad that contains plenty of top talent such as Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.
In fact, it has looked in recent times like some star members of the squad have dialled it in - Kane was lambasted by Roy Keane last weekend - so the news that they are 'excited and enthused' is long overdue.
As long as the players buy in to what Conte tries to do, Spurs could enjoy unexpected success. For example, the Italian led Chelsea to the Premier League title the season after they have finished 10th in the table, while the Serie A title won at Inter last season came after Juve had won the trophy nine seasons on the trot.
However, as he showed with his treatment of Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge (via The BBC), he will not take any prisoners. It depends on the Spurs players themselves whether they can enjoy success under Conte.
In other news, Tottenham met with club directors to discuss a move for this 21-year-old.