Conte's bitter Mourinho feud - Humiliation, hair mockery and "clown" comment

When Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho stepped into the metaphorical ring, there was bound to be bad blood.

Here were two passionate managers, both associated with Chelsea Football Club, past and present.

Mourinho had been worshipped for years by the Blues fans before tarnishing his legacy with their woeful title defence in 2015-16. He then went on to manage rivals Manchester United and Tottenham, which all but severed his ties with the Chelsea supporters.

Somewhere deep down, it probably hurt the Portuguese to see Conte come in and turn a squad of average players — who seemingly downed tools under Mourinho — into title winners the following season in 2016-17.

It took only a few months for the pair to fall out and exchanging blows that could only be described as below the belt. With so many petty remarks and thinly-veiled jibes, the only surprising thing aspect of their feud is that it never ended in fisticuffs.

Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho argue on the touchline ( Image:

Getty Images)

Now, with Conte preparing to take the Tottenham job after Nuno Espirito Santo's sacking, he may have the chance to achieve what Mourinho failed to do in his 17-month reign and win a trophy.

That could be all that is required to reignite this bitter feud which rumbled on for 18 months in front of the public.

Mirror Football has taken a look at how the row began and what happened next…

October 2016 — Mourinho on 'humiliating' celebrations

Conte has earned a reputation for celebrating every goal like it is a winner in the Champions League final. And Mourinho used to be that way too — who could forget the knee-slide at Old Trafford in 2004 when he was Porto manager?

But in their first encounter on the touchline in England, things overheated when Chelsea tore United apart in a 4-0 demolition at Stamford Bridge.

Reeling from his side's poor display, Mourinho was unhappy with the celebrations from the Chelsea bench when N'Golo Kante weaved past two defenders and slotted home.

Mourinho confronted Conte and refused to let go with an elongated handshake, reportedly telling the Chelsea coach: "You don't celebrate like that at 4-0, you can do it at 1-0, otherwise it's humiliating for us."

November 2016 — Conte criticises Moses treatment

Antonio Conte revived Victor Moses' career at Chelsea

Was Conte simply asking for trouble when he spoke about the treatment of Victor Moses, who had been cast aside when Mourinho was in charge?

Perhaps. But the Italian had unearthed a role for the Nigerian that no other coach had thought of, deploying the former Wigan man as a right wing-back.

In his four years at the club, Moses had been loaned to Stoke, Liverpool and West Ham without getting a look in under Mourinho — something Conte could not fathom.

"I noticed his potential from the first days of the summer retreat," Conte told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Moses has important qualities: technique, physical strength, the ability to cover 70 metres of the pitch. I find it incredible that someone like him has been overlooked."

February 2017 — Mourinho lauds "very defensive" Chelsea

Mourinho is quite simply the master of the back-handed compliment.

When giving his thoughts on why Chelsea were title favourites, the 58-year-old described Conte's side as a "very good defensive team".

It was somewhat ironic as Mourinho had built his reputation on assembling teams with a disciplined approach, not least with Chelsea, who still hold the record for the fewest goals conceded in a Premier League season (15).

"Chelsea are a very good defensive team," he said.

"They defend very well and with lots of players and I think in this situation a very defensive team wins the title with counter-attack goals and set-pieces goals.

"I don't think they will let it slip but football is football."

March 2017 — Red mist descends

Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have words on the touchline ( Image:

NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The hands of fate dealt football fans with a thrilling FA Cup quarter-final tie in the 2016-17 season when Chelsea were drawn as the home side against Manchester United.

Mourinho had deployed Ander Herrera to man-mark Eden Hazard, a player he knew a lot about from his three years managing the Belgian.

Unfortunately, referee Michael Oliver saw quickly spotted the pattern of fouling on the winger and handed him a red card for two bookable offences in the first half, leading Mourinho to directly question the consistency of Oliver's decision.

"I don't speak [about the red card]," he said.

"Everybody can analyse from different perspectives but we all watch the match until the red card and after the red card. So we can compare the decisions of the two yellow cards, in this case with others which were not given."

Conte was asked about Mourinho's comments and for the first time he responded, instead singling out the persistent fouling of Hazard to justify the decision.

April 2017 — Conte aims spending dig

Here is where the battle started to heat up. After spending £150m in the summer transfer window, Mourinho was still struggling to get his Man United team up to speed.

Conte made no attempt to conceal his attempts to mock his counterpart's troubles, despite a big summer of spending himself in west London.

"I think this season it's very important to understand that it's not always who spends more money who wins," said the Italian.

"Otherwise, in this league this season, the name of the team (who would win the title) wasn't Chelsea or Tottenham or Arsenal or Liverpool.

"This season isn't the only season the Manchester clubs have spent a lot of money. Look at the past. It's normal."

July 2017 — Mourinho mocks Conte's hair

Antonio Conte reportedly underwent a hair transplant earlier in his career

At first, it was just business. Now it's personal.

It was commonly speculated that Conte had undergone a hair transplant many years ago. And to the man with a full head of hair, Mourinho found a rare opportunity to plant a jab on his rival.

When Conte referred to the 2015-16 as "the Mourinho season", saying it couldn't happen to the club again.

The United boss was careful not to bite back, instead referring to the rumour that Conte had artificially replaced his hair.

"I could answer in many different ways but I'm not going to lose my hair to speak about Antonio Conte," he told reporters, without so much of a smirk.

Even by his standards, it was a peak example of his dark arts tactics. It was a jibe so thinly-veiled that it could not be misinterpreted, but still not direct enough to land him in hot water. Remarkable.

October 2017 — A petty exchange

Man Utd manager Jose Mourinho speaks to the media in a press conference

Three months was clearly too long for these two to be separated, so Mourinho made the first move in sparking another row.

After watching United beat Benfica with a depleted squad, he told reporters: "I never speak about injuries. Other managers, they cry, they cry, they cry when a player is injured.

"I don't cry; I think the way to do it is ignore the players who are injured and focus on the players that are available. If I want to moan and cry like the others, I can cry for the next five minutes. But I don't."

Conte snapped back by suggesting Mourinho was too focused on Chelsea and not his own side: "I think that, a lot of times, Mourinho [likes to concentrate on] what is happening at Chelsea. A lot of times, also last season. [He has] to think about his team."

January 2018 — Conte the "clown"

It was put to Mourinho that he had calmed down as he had aged as a manager, which met with another indirect swipe in Conte's direction.

"Because I don't behave as a clown on the touchline, it means that I lost my passion," he said.

"I prefer to behave the way I am doing it, much more mature, better for my team and myself, I don't think you have to behave like a crazy guy on the touchline to have that passion."

Conte was never going to let it slide after being referred to as a "clown". And he went with a body blow, describing Mourinho — who speaks Italian — as "demenza senile", which translates as someone with senile dementia.

A club spokesperson later confirmed that he had meant to say "amnesia", but the damage was done. This was war.

January 2018 — Mourinho on Conte's match-fixing ban

Juventus coach Antonio Conte arrives on August 20, 2012 for his appeal hearing before the disciplinary commission of the Italian Football League at the Federal Court of Justice in Rome.

In 2012, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) accused Conte of failing to report alleged match-fixing involving his former club Siena.

Consequently, the former Juve boss received a 10-month suspension which was later reduced to four months. He was acquitted of the charges in 2016.

But that did not stop Mourinho from, again, aiming indirect comments towards Conte by insisting he would never get involved in such activity.

"What never happened to me - and will never happen - is to be suspended for match-fixing," he said.

"That never happened to me and will never happen."

January 2018 — "Little man" Mourinho

Considering that Conte is reportedly just two centimetres taller than Mourinho, his classification of the Portuguese as a "little man" must have been made in figurative terms.

He responded to Mourinho's match-fixing comments by suggesting the 58-year-old had no idea on the details of the case and ranted furiously about his managerial colleague.

"I think when there are these types of comments, comments where you try to offend the person and don't know the truth, then you are a little man," he said.

"In the past he was a little man in many circumstances, he's a little man in the present and for sure he will be a little man in the future. I consider him a little man and I consider him a man with a very low profile."

And then came the offer for the fight that everyone wanted to see.