It's not exactly a closely guarded secret but Italy have now definitively confirmed that Antonio Conte will leave his post after Euro 2016, leaving the door open for him to take over as Chelsea boss.
It's been blatantly clear for weeks now that Conte will be Chelsea's next manager but although, that's still yet to be announced, Italian Football Federation president Carlo Tavecchio has told Sky Italia this morning that the former Juve boss would indeed depart the international scene when Euro 2016 comes to a close.
And that's where Ireland come in. As we all know, Ireland vs Italy will close out the group stages on June 22nd in Lille and that would make it fairly obvious to us that the last the Italian public will see of Conte will be the sight of him walking dejected down the Stade Pierre Mauroy tunnel with Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane celebrating wildly in the foreground.
Just in case there was any doubt about where Conte was heading next, Tavecchio was fairly clear about the reason that he had chosen to leave the job.
He misses the training pitch and working with players every day. That's understandable.
So, Chelsea fans can look forward to Conte taking over on the back of a hiding from Martin O'Neill's men. And, in case it wasn't obvious, no, no one is even allowed to think about Euro 2012. We're three months out and it's all bling positivity from here on in.
