It seems to be a recurring topic with Antonio Conte. He arrives at a new club, ignites a flame in the squad, maybe even wins a title along the way... And in the second season, he is at the centre of a crisis.
Napoli are living through the latest iteration of this. Conte took over the club last season in his favourite position - they hadn't qualified for any European competitions, so they only had the Serie A to focus on. Sure enough, he took them to the Scudetto.
Now, Napoli sit in fourth in Serie A, but after a 2-0 loss in Bologna, they succumbed to their fifth defeat of the season across competitions. And even worse, they have now gone three games without scoring.
According to Italian journalist Matteo Moretto, Conte is set to meet face-to-face with the club’s board as doubts grow over his future, even though Napoli insider Carlo Alvino says no such meeting will take place as Conte is in Turin with his family.
Criticism of his own club
Either way, there is already speculation around Conte's future following his fiery words after the Bologna loss.
"Bologna showed passion, enthusiasm and heart, while we melted away at the first negative situation," he said in his post-match press conference.
"Five defeats since the start of the season are too many for a team that was labelled as a clear favourite for the title. Sorry to bring up skeletons from the past, but we mustn’t forget that after winning the third Scudetto, Napoli then finished tenth. That should’ve been a lesson," Conte added.
"We must do something. I don’t want to accompany a dead man. If we want to do something together, it’s fine; otherwise, we all have to take responsibility. I always do it. I don’t like what I’m seeing, and eventually I’m the first one to take responsibility," he continued.
Transfer issues
These comments come just a few weeks after Conte criticised his own club for their summer business following the 6-2 humbling against PSV in the Champions League.
"Nine new signings were too many; we lost the balance. I warned this year would be difficult, because some things take time to absorb," he said then of the summer transfer window, when Napoli brought in nine fresh faces.
Among them were forward Rasmus Hojlund from Manchester United and Manchester City legend Kevin de Bruyne, who is currently out with an injury.
This is not the first time Conte has come to blows with his own club regarding transfers, though this time the issue seems to be Napoli investing in new players a little too much.
After his successful stint at Juventus and the title-winning season with Inter, he publicly criticised the lack of investment and even called Inter a "downsized project" before agreeing to his departure.
At Chelsea, he faced internal struggles because the Blues were not pursuing the players he would have liked.
It remains to be seen whether the issues this season will lead to his departure from Napoli just a few months after winning the Scudetto, or if he will revive the so-called "dead man" once again.