Claudio Ranieri

Claudio Ranieri (born October 20, 1951 in Rome) is a former Italian football player and football manager.

Managerial career

Campania

His first managerial position was at Campania, where he took charge in 1987. It was at Serie C club Cagliari that he made his name, getting them promoted to Serie A from the third division.

Related Topics:
Campania - 1987 - Serie C - Cagliari - Serie A

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Fiorentina

After a brief spell at Napoli, he subsequently had success with Fiorentina. Winning the Italian Cup twice.

Related Topics:
Napoli - Fiorentina

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Valencia

On 8 June 2004, he returned for a second stint as coach of Valencia on a three-year contract.

Related Topics:
8 June - 2004 - Valencia

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Picking up the pieces after Rafa Benitez, the manager who had led Valencia to the UEFA Cup and La Liga double the previous season, resigned and then promptly joined Liverpool. Ranieri made a series of signings from Serie A, spending the cash on Marco Di Vaio, Stefano Fiore, Bernardo Corradi and Emiliano Moretti. These four signings never really worked, after a bright start, in which the Mestalla outfit picked up 14 out of a possible 18 points and beat Porto to lift the European Super Cup, Valencia went into a slump from October, winning once in 7 games and getting knocked out of the Champions League, in no small part thanks to a humiliating 5-1 drubbing by Inter in which midfielder Miguel Angulo was sent off for spitting. After a brief revival Valencia went another 6 games without a win from mid-January. Apart from his four Italian signings Ranieri was criticised for not playing Argentinean playmaker Pablo Aimar and persistent changes to formations and tactics, something carried forward by him from his Chelsea days.

Related Topics:
Rafa Benitez - UEFA Cup - Marco Di Vaio - Stefano Fiore - Bernardo Corradi - Emiliano Moretti - Pablo Aimar

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He was sacked on February 25 2005 after Valencia were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Steaua Bucharest. Valencia were sixth at the time of Ranieri's sacking.

Related Topics:
February 25 - 2005 - UEFA Cup - Steaua Bucharest

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Quique Flores was announced by Valencia in June, 2005 to be Ranieri's long term successor. Prior to that Ranieri had picked up £3million from Valencia for the premature termination of his contract.

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Atlético Madrid

Joined in 1999 and while manager at Atlético Madrid of Spain the club went into administration. Nearing the brink of relegation Ranieri resigned before he could be sacked by the late Atletico chairman Jesus Gil, who was notorious for sacking managers.

Related Topics:
1999 - Atlético Madrid - Spain

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Chelsea

As manager of Chelsea from September 2000 to 31 May 2004, he worked hard to overcome the language barrier. When he arrived at the London club he could barely speak English; fortunately, the club had few English players at the time, and many players who could speak Italian and as a result they could translate for him. Ranieri's first season comprised of inconsistent results, with Chelsea scraping into sixth place and an UEFA Cup spot.

Related Topics:
Chelsea - 2000 - 2004 - London - English - Italian - UEFA Cup

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Ranieri worked hard to rebuild the Chelsea squad in the summer of 2001, signing Frank Lampard, Emmanuel Petit, William Gallas and Boudewijn Zenden for over £30million. Chelsea's league performance however did not improve much on the previous season, finishing 6th once again, but it is two noticeable if not successful cup runs and some run-ins with the law which left its mark in people's memories. Chelsea were defeated 2-0 by Arsenal in the FA Cup final and were knocked out in humiliating circumstances by Tottenham 6-3 over two matches in the Worthington Cup. Whilst off the pitch John Terry, the team's key central defender, was charged with affray, after he and team mates Frank Lampard, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jody Morris were fined by the club for rowdy behaviour in front of distressed American tourists in the aftermath of September the 11th. Then there was the European venture, in which Chelsea were left embarassed once more, losing 3-1 to minnows Hapoel Tel Aviv over two legs after six players refused to travel to Israel for security reasons.

Related Topics:
Frank Lampard - Emmanuel Petit - William Gallas - Boudewijn Zenden - Arsenal - Tottenham - Worthington Cup - John Terry - Eidur Gudjohnsen - Jody Morris - Hapoel Tel Aviv - Israel

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By the summer of 2002 football's cash crisis had hit Chelsea hard and the only major signing was Spanish midfielder Enrique 'Quique' De Lucas on a free transfer from Espanyol. However the squad had gathered their experiences from the previous season and had gone to Christmas firmly placed in the top two, recording some fine victories over teams such as Newcastle United, Everton, Sunderland and Blackburn. After then however loss of form and injuries hit a thin squad hard and league form dipped whilst Chelsea were once again knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal. It is also from this period accusations of Ranieri's over-rotation of the squad, or 'tinkering' as the media dubbed it, resurfaced. Nevertheless Chelsea finished the season on a high, qualifying for the Champions League after beating Liverpool 2-1 on the last day of the season.

Related Topics:
Enrique 'Quique' De Lucas - Espanyol - Liverpool

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When Chelsea were taken over by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003, Ranieri was given an unlimited transfer fund but also found his job under threat. Days after the takeover Mr. Abramovich was spotted meeting with England manager Sven Goran Eriksson, although the club denied Eriksson would be taking over at the time, these rumours would haunt Ranieri's season. Ranieri spent £120 million on players in the summer of 2003. These signings included Irish winger Damien Duff for a club record £17million, English youngsters Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole, Scott Parker and Glen Johnson, Argentinean pair Juan Sebastian 'Seba' Veron and Hernan Crespo, veteran Frenchman Claude Makelele and controversial Romanian star Adrian Mutu, who would be sacked 14 months later for taking cocaine. Although the heavy investment brought the best league result for the club in 49 years, finishing runners-up in the Premiership and falling in the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League whilst breaking some club records for least number of goals conceeded and highest number of points in a season, it was not enough to satisfy many at the club, who expected immediate and overwhelming success. Ranieri's defenders noted that Chelsea finished behind the first team in more than a century to go unbeaten all season in England's top league (Arsenal), and that the second-place finish was sufficient to automatically qualify Chelsea for the extremely lucrative group phase of the Champions League, whilst Ranieri himself explained that it was difficult to mould so many new players into a team within a season and that he was 'satisfied' with his work for the season. His critics pointed to the manner in which Chelsea had gone out of the semi-finals of the Champions League, the infamous night in Monte Carlo where some bizarre substitutions cost Chelsea the game, the Blues lost 3-1 to Monaco of the French First League on the night and drew 2-2 in the return match, going out 5-3 on aggregate.

Related Topics:
Russia - Billionaire - Roman Abramovich - 2003 - Sven Goran Eriksson - £ - Damien Duff - Wayne Bridge - Joe Cole - Scott Parker - Glen Johnson - Juan Sebastian 'Seba' Veron - Hernan Crespo - Claude Makelele - Adrian Mutu - Premiership - UEFA Champions League - Arsenal - Monaco

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On May 31 2004, after almost a year of speculation, he was finally dismissed of his coaching duties at Chelsea, and his job went to the man of the moment, a certain Jose Mourinho, who had led unfashionable Porto of the Portuguese Superliga to successive European triumphs, picking up the UEFA Cup in 2003 and then its more glamorous cousin the Champions League in 2004, ironically beating Chelsea's conquerors in the semis, Monaco, all the while picking up two domestic league titles and a Portuguese Cup. Ranieri's time at Chelsea was filled with inconsistency and to this day supporters of Chelsea argue if he ultimately did more good than bad for their beloved club, whilst he left behind him a talented squad and shrewd signings such as those of Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben, Petr Cech, Claude Makelele, Damien Duff, William Gallas, Wayne Bridge etc., many still feel raw for the incosistent performances of the Ranieri era and the Monaco defeat.

Related Topics:
May 31 - 2004 - Jose Mourinho - Porto - Arjen Robben - Petr Cech

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Ranieri published a book named Proud Man Walking in September 2004 chronicling his last year at Chelsea. All proceeds went to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.

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Part of Ranieri's legacy were his comical quotes and soundbites, including:

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"If it is the case that you need just a first 11 and three or four more players, then why did Christopher Columbus sail to India to discover America?"

Related Topics:
Christopher Columbus - India - America

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"Football managers are like a parachutist. At times it doesn't open.

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Here, it is an umbrella. You understand, Mary Poppins?"

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"Damien is Damien. When I don't put him in the squad my mother, who's 84, asks 'why isn't Damien playing?' She kills me about it and that's true"

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"I already have Abramovich's sword embedded in me"

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"Wait until the summer at least" Ranieri to Eriksson after he mistakenly walks into the Chelsea dressing room

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"Now I'm grown up, vaccinated against tropical diseases, nothing surprises me any more"

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"My team had more vitamins out there today"

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"He is a crazy man" a poignant moment when Ranieri watches footage of himself celebrating after beating Arsenal for the first time in his Chelsea career in the 2004 UCL quarter-final

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"F*ck Claudio, bad, bad Claudio" Ranieri apologising after baffling substitutions that contributed to Chelsea's downfall in the 2004 UEFA Champions League semi-final

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