Why is Claudio Ranieri still in office?

(Baonghean.vn) - People say that being a football coach is one of the most thankless jobs. But that's not true for Ranieri, at least at this point in time.

On February 7, on the Leicester City Club's homepage, there was an announcement with the following content: "In the face of recent rumors, Leicester City would like to clarify that the team always gives absolute support to coach Claudio Ranieri (...) All members of the club are committed to standing behind Ranieri, working together to overcome the challenges ahead." Thus, the Italian strategist's seat at King Power Stadium remains as solid as a rock, despite Leicester City's poor performance this season, especially in the Premier League.

Coach Ranieri and his students wrote a "fairy tale" when they won the Premier League 2015-2016. Photo: Internet.

In modern football, patience has become a luxury. Whenever a team does not play well or does not please the owners, the first person to "take the blame" is none other than the head coach. However, Claudio Ranieri did not fall into such a tragic situation, although he completely deserved it.

As of the 24th round of the Premier League 2016/2017, Leicester City has only 21 points, temporarily ranked 16th, 1 point away from the danger zone. The task of defending the championship is beyond the reach of Mahrez and his teammates, even the possibility of staying in the league is extremely difficult.

Strange! No one at King Power Stadium, from the board of directors, players and fans of this team, has shown any loss of confidence in the coach nicknamed “the welder”. This is a very surprising thing not only for Leicester City but also for the world football.

Remember, before last season, the owners of the "foxes" made a shockingly quick decision to fire "hero" Nigel Pearson, who had contributed to bringing Leicester City from the English First Division to the Premier League and successfully staying in the league with a spectacular "death run". The reason for "sack" coach Nigel Pearson was quite simple, because of conflicts with the two Thai owners (Vichai and Aiyawatt).

At present, under the leadership of coach Claudio Ranieri, Leicester City is on a downward spiral in the Premier League, the risk of returning to the lower league of the "foggy country" is clear, but the strategist born in 1951 is still unaffected. It is known that Claudio Ranieri has the achievement of helping Leicester City win the Premier League 2015/2016, but there are many coaches who have to "go out" immediately after doing that for their team not long ago. Look no further, coach Mourinho is the one who feels the most from the ingratitude of club owners.

On December 17, 2015, just one week before Christmas, the “special one” had to pack up and leave Stamford Bridge in bitterness due to the decision to fire President Abramovic. At the time Coach Mourinho left Chelsea, the Premier League had only gone through 16 rounds and his team was in the bottom half of the rankings with 16th place (like Leicester at the moment). It is worth mentioning that 7 months ago, the Portuguese strategist had just brought home the double title (Premier League and English League Cup) for the team at Stamford Bridge.

Or like coach Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid a few seasons ago. Coming to the Bernabeu to sit in the empty chair left by Mourinho, the former AC Milan coach immediately proved his talent when leading the "royal team" to the 2013-2014 Champions League championship, ending a thirst that lasted more than a decade (since 2002). However, in the 2014-2015 season, Real Madrid was empty-handed in all three arenas: Champions League, La Liga, and the King's Cup. Carlo Ancelotti was mercilessly fired by president Florentino Perez, even though Los Blancos players and fans still supported the Italian strategist.

Although Leicester City is playing disappointingly, coach Ranieri still receives support from the team's board of directors and fans. Photo: Internet.

Mentioning Mourinho and Ancelotti, the top coaches in the world of football in recent years, to see the ingratitude of the coaching profession. Therefore, for a strategist of Claudio Ranieri's caliber, his fate is "hanging by a thread". It was thought that the recent series of disappointing matches would be "the last straw", draining the patience of the two Thai owners and Leicester City fans, forcing the 65-year-old coach to pack his bags and leave the King Power Stadium like most of his colleagues in similar situations. However, the opposite happened, Claudio Ranieri is still safely in his position.

The “coach mill” has been in full swing all over Europe, in the Premier League alone, 3 people have just fallen into unemployment (Guidolin, Alan Pardew, Mike Phelan) but the Italian strategist is not affected at all, it is really strange. It is not known whether Claudio Ranieri can help Leicester City stay in the league, with the kind behavior of the team's leadership and fans towards him, making the coaches admire. Once again, people have to mention the “fairy tale” at King Power Stadium, after the championship.

Thanh Hung