Raineiri for the sack

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 8:40am #1

From the sun

By JOHN SADLER

IT MIGHT seem pointless to remind a multi-billionaire of his own extreme good fortune. But Roman Abramovich doesn’t know how lucky he is.

Otherwise Chelsea’s Russian owner would come clean with a public statement of unequivocal support for his manager Claudio Ranieri.

And put an end to the nudge-nudging that continues unabated — insisting that Sven Goran Eriksson’s proposed appointment at Stamford Bridge is the worst-kept secret in football.

It has gone on ever since Abramovich took control of the Village people.

It has raged throughout the spending of more than £100million on new players, many of them believed to be Eriksson’s recommendations.

Many a bucket of fuel has been chucked on the fire, not least the suggestion that there is a £34m deal on offer to the Swede . . .

Followed, last week, by Eriksson’s admission he was contemplating a return to club management. He was not specific about where or when.

But the consensus seems to be that the man contracted to England and a point away from the European championships will make a decision after the decisive qualifier in Turkey on October 11.

So, in the absence of a clear declaration to the contrary from the man in charge, Ranieri is expected to work under the constant threat of losing the job he is doing so well.

It is madness. It makes no sense even in an industry which never ceases to surprise us with its stupidity.

Worse than that, it is grossly unfair on a man who has defied the rumour-mongering with a measure of dignity and style that puts many of his contemporaries to shame.

He has done it with a shrug of the shoulders, a lift of the eyebrows, a chuckle and a repeat of his familiar phrase with that pronounced Italian accent: “Eet’s OK.”

Ranieri must look around him and wonder how come he is the one relentlessly linked with the sack when there are others who should be feeling the heat far more intensely.

Like Peter Reid, whose Leeds side have crashed into the bottom three.

Or Sir Bobby Robson, complaining that a section of the Toon Army had turned on him. After all he had done for Newcastle.

As for Gerard Houllier at Liverpool, I suspect he has made a rod for his own back by confessing that next weekend’s home game against Arsenal is “make or break.”

He meant for the season but it could be the same for the manager.

Despite all this, it is The Chuckler who appears in greatest danger of the axe.

Perhaps Abramovich might care to look again at the league table where he will find Chelsea next to the top, a mere point behind Arsenal. And with a game in hand.

They don’t need anybody. They already have a dignified and thoroughly pleasant manager who, in juggling a wealth of talent and attempting to keep everybody happy, remains unbeaten so far this season.

There is no evidence that says Eriksson could do the job as well as the man doing it under constant duress.

A man whose work so far is worthy of the utmost admiration and respect.

A manager who has to tinker in order to fully utilise Abramovich’s astounding investment.

A manager who revealed a few days ago he tells his players: “The referee is always right.”

Ranieri doesn’t yet have a full command of English but with five words he was exposing many a current manager.

He was instructing his players against arguing with officials who never change their minds.

I can think of many a team who would benefit from such advice. And many a club who would relish such a manager as the one Chelsea are apparently itching to replace.

In the meantime we can only wonder about Abramovich’s thinking.

While hoping, for Ranieri’s sake, that this is not one of those billionaires who turns out to have more money than sense

smuckers · 30-09-2003 9:25am

Appointing SGE would a be a big mistake he has no passion at all IMHO Claudio may not a be a long term CFC manager but not SGE to take over he is so inept in his tactics. e.g Brazil Vs England.

woosaysdan · 30-09-2003 9:26am

They don’t need anybody. They already have a dignified and thoroughly pleasant manager who, in juggling a wealth of talent and attempting to keep everybody happy, remains unbeaten so far this season.

i couldnt agree more he is a great manager

The Muppet · 30-09-2003 9:35am

They don’t need anybody. They already have a dignified and thoroughly pleasant manager who, in juggling a wealth of talent and attempting to keep everybody happy, remains unbeaten so far this season.

I agree too, but if Roman has really offered the job to SGe the longer he Leaves ranners there the mor difficult it will be to get rid of him. Already the fans are chanting who needs SGE at their matches. If Ranners has success this year then fans and some of the players may be non too pleased to see him go if he is sacked . If he is to be replaced i dont think roman can afford to wait much longer.

smuckers · 30-09-2003 9:40am

The fans were singing that chant with SGE was in the stands on Sat.

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 9:53am

Sven is more interested in promoting himself than working for the club the club is more important and raineri is the man for the job (kinda reminds me of when viali was sacked but i believe raineri is a better manager than him)

ZENER · 30-09-2003 10:07am

I hear with interest this morning that ManU are discussing an extension to Sir Alex' contract even though he already signed a three year deal last year.

I would pose the question - are United worried that Ferguson may be made an offer he can't refuse by Chelski perhaps being headhunted by Kenyon ?

Food for thought.

Tinky

therecklessone · 30-09-2003 10:15am

Well, if Ranieri does get the sack, he's always welcome at White Hart Lane (he most likely knows it as Three Point Lane, like most Chelsea fans do)...

Mossy Monk · 30-09-2003 10:22am

Originally posted by tinky
I hear with interest this morning that ManU are discussing an extension to Sir Alex' contract even though he already signed a three year deal last year

will he ever retire. he was supposed to be gone at the end of 2 seasons ago

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 10:25am

i think that if raineri went to three point lane he would do a good job get rid of all your old fellas and bring in new and up and coming talents from your youth team

p.pete · 30-09-2003 10:39am

Some sources say that ferguson was approached months ago but he refused.

Five live were doing a lot of interviews with Chelsea fans on the street over the weekend and not one of them wanted a change in management.

What good is money without brains? SGE has already shown that he can throw money away while with Lazio and if GA decides to replace Ranieri with SGE then they deserve each other. Would be a stupid move.

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 10:43am

besides raineri is the only reason we are not the mosted hated club in the country

growler · 30-09-2003 10:48am

i really hope Chelsea don't take on Ericsson , it would be a triumph of hype over talent and would be extremely unpopular with the fans, the last two weeks are the first times I've heard "Ranieri's Blue and White army" and plenty of "we dont need Ericsson" chants on Saturday also. Heard one of the "journalists" on the dreadful "more english" Jimmy Hill supplement saying that Owen Hargreaves has been linked with Chelsea, first i heard of it , but apparently because he's liked by Sven it proves that Sven will go to the Bridge.

I'm sure Roman is smart enough to know that this talk is not helping the team , although a statement of absolute confidence in a manager is usaully a precursor to being sacked.

Send Sven to newcastle or better still give the man a real challenge : Leeds.

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 10:52am

Send him to spurs its been the graveyard for many a mans career

therecklessone · 30-09-2003 11:08am

I'd rather have Loony Gross back before Sven Gordon...

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 11:10am

Gross must be the only manager that excelled once he left tottenham didnt he knock the pool out of champions league last year

therecklessone · 30-09-2003 11:18am

Yeah, he won the Swiss championship and reached the second group stage of the Champions League, knocking the Pool out on the way. He just didn't get the Tube to the matches...

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 11:20am

So the trick to managing tottenham is not to take the tube it must really piss you off that roman was going to invest in yer club and then went to us

therecklessone · 30-09-2003 11:33am

Not really, we'd have wasted the money on donkeys like Peter Crouch and the like...no Mutus and Crespos for the Spurs, oh no...

JohnnyBravo · 30-09-2003 11:35am

we werent going to get any of them tillwe signed veron so he has his uses

woosaysdan · 30-09-2003 1:11pm

Originally posted by tinky
I hear with interest this morning that ManU are discussing an extension to Sir Alex' contract even though he already signed a three year deal last year.

I would pose the question - are United worried that Ferguson may be made an offer he can't refuse by Chelski perhaps being headhunted by Kenyon ?

Food for thought.

Tinky

interesting thought but i cant see it happening fergie will stay at united

Shred · 30-09-2003 1:48pm

interesting thought but i cant see it happening fergie will stay at united

I absolutely agree. Peter Kenyon may have taken the bait but there's no way I see Fergie ever leaving unireh. A number of players have said it over the years, Fergie will die before he leaves (or retires from) united.

smemon · 30-09-2003 5:45pm

why is ranieri being slaughtered for winning one nil against villa?? chelsea are still unbeaten this season. not many teams are.

why would that russian give him over 100m pounds and then sack him?? its obvious ranieri will not be sacked until at least the end of the season. use your heads people! unless chelsea go on a 5 game losing streak ranieri will not be sacked.

why doesnt everyone get on houlliers back instead or ranieris?? 2 defeats and 2 draws plus the one in europe. the media are fond of houllier for some unknown reason. attack the frenchman, thats what i say. he should be the one going.

smuckers · 01-10-2003 9:24am

When Utd win a game 1-0 its a sign of a championship winning team but when Chelsea do it the team is lucky Utd were v lucky against Wolves.

marct · 01-10-2003 10:33am

Originally posted by smemon
why is ranieri being slaughtered for winning one nil against villa?? chelsea are still unbeaten this season. not many teams are.

why would that russian give him over 100m pounds and then sack him?? its obvious ranieri will not be sacked until at least the end of the season. use your heads people! unless chelsea go on a 5 game losing streak ranieri will not be sacked.

why doesnt everyone get on houlliers back instead or ranieris?? 2 defeats and 2 draws plus the one in europe. the media are fond of houllier for some unknown reason. attack the frenchman, thats what i say. he should be the one going.

You really do have an axe to grind dont you?? Only you could possibly change a Chelsea into yet another bout of Liverpool bashing. Your woeful contributions to these boards have only been been surpassed by the thankfully departed Ubahone- get a life!

p.pete · 01-10-2003 10:41am

I think it is a compliment that people who support Liverpools rivals still care enough to try to give us a bashing. It's when the slagging stops that I will be worried:D

Thanx 4 The Fish · 01-10-2003 10:45am

Originally posted by smemon
why is ranieri being slaughtered for winning one nil against villa?? chelsea are still unbeaten this season. not many teams are.

why would that russian give him over 100m pounds and then sack him?? its obvious ranieri will not be sacked until at least the end of the season. use your heads people! unless chelsea go on a 5 game losing streak ranieri will not be sacked.

why doesnt everyone get on houlliers back instead or ranieris?? 2 defeats and 2 draws plus the one in europe. the media are fond of houllier for some unknown reason. attack the frenchman, thats what i say. he should be the one going.

There are plenty of teams below Liverpool in the league semon. Why is it that you are not harping on about sir bobby ? Worst start in years and languishing at the foot of the table. There was no mention of liverpool before on this thread and unless you can pull out something a little less tenuous than that I would expect not much more said on it.

I cannot see Rainieri out but it really will depend upon the results against Turkey and any possible playoffs, if they go badly and SGE comes free then there could be trouble. Shame really though if it did come about as I think that CR is doing a good job.

smemon · 01-10-2003 5:24pm

robson is a legend like ferguson, they have bad runs but u always know they'll hit form again. the same cant be said for GH.
what i mean is GH should be first in line out the door than ranieri.

why is it that people say ranieri should be sacked when he's started the season unbeaten? i can almost guarantee chelsea will have the same manger until the end of the season. why there is so much negativity towards ranieri i dont know.

he's done a great job at chelsea so far. has them consistent and playing good footie. not just this season, last aswell.

growler · 01-10-2003 5:27pm

I do believe thats the first time "consistent" and "chelsea" have been used in the same sentence ! (exxcept when there's a big NOT in the same sentence obviously)

smemon · 01-10-2003 10:07pm

as usual my whole post kinda goes down the drain there. chelsea lose 2nil at home. still, ranieri shouldnt be sacked and i dont think will.

LoneGunM@n · 02-10-2003 11:03am

I agree that Ranieri is a good manager & definitely chosen over SVE, but his constant changing of the team may have a detrimental effect as the season wears on!!

I have to say that he should have taken gallas off last night when it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain, even though it would have meant 10 v 10, because that may have worsened his injury [like Freddie in the Arse v Newcastle match].

Plus, why in god's name is he leaving Duffer on the bench .... he has been consistently the best player for Chelsea this season [alongside Lampard & Mutu].

p.pete · 02-10-2003 11:25am

In response to Growler, Chelsea were consistant all last season. ManU had bad and good perionds, Liverpool had good then bad then good periods and arsenal didn't start the best, came good and then trailed off. Chelsea were fairly steady last season without being league winners.

What's the story with totally rearanging the defence for a CL match?stupid...

The Muppet · 02-10-2003 11:36am

What's the story with totally rearanging the defence for a CL match?stupid...

I would also question the sense of doing this.

I didnt see chelskis match, was Duffers playing ? If Not I would be interested in the reason for not playing him as he was in top form lately and creating most of cheseas attacks.

p.pete · 02-10-2003 11:51am

Duff came on at half time but they then insisted on bringing most attacks down the right where Jerami was getting dispossesed every time. They also brought of jfh for crespo and I'm not sure there is logic there either unless he had a knock. Meant they had no subs left and gallas was limping about like a spare wheel.

marct · 02-10-2003 3:29pm

Originally posted by smemon
robson is a legend like ferguson, they have bad runs but u always know they'll hit form again. the same cant be said for GH.
what i mean is GH should be first in line out the door than ranieri.

why is it that people say ranieri should be sacked when he's started the season unbeaten? i can almost guarantee chelsea will have the same manger until the end of the season. why there is so much negativity towards ranieri i dont know.

he's done a great job at chelsea so far. has them consistent and playing good footie. not just this season, last aswell.

GH has won:
French league with PSG
Uefa Cup, FA cup and Worthington cup * 2 with Liverpool
What has Ranieri won? Now I think Claudio is a good manager but this just emphasises your one- eyed, anti Liverpool view of everything. Your contributions add nothing to this board so take off the ManU tinted specs!:mad:

Bacchus · 02-10-2003 5:10pm

marct: If anyone here is dragging this into a Liverpool rant/debate/bashing, it's you. Not everyone is always out to get Liverpool. This thread is about Ranieri and Chelsea. People are obviously at some stage going to compare Ranieri's situation with others (included GH) but it doesn't mean they are bashing us. Quit going off topic.

My €0.02: Roman would a fool to sack Ranieri. Even last year without all the star players, Ranieri managed a respectable 4th place. Now that he has a bit of cash, I don't see why he couldn't take them further. Also he keeps great discipline in the team as was said earlier. Look at the state of teams like Arsenal - great team but poor discipline is undoing the team. Leeds too, couple of years ago they were the bad boys of the prem, now they are in the relegation zone.
Ranieri's a top class manager and is doing an excellent job keeping all the players happy and winning games. If he gets sacked, I hope the guy that replaces him is an almighty failure -that'll show Roman.

marct · 03-10-2003 9:34am

I will be delighted to get back to the topic at hand! IMO Claudio is a far superior manager to Sven. Sven has managed to take some of the most talented players around (Owen, Gerrard, Becks, Scholes etc) and turn them into long ball merchants.

Raineiri for the sack

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