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Claudio Ranieri has been given the reigns at Inter Milan following the dismissal of much-maligned coach Gian Piero Gasperini, but is the very likeable Italian the man to steer Inter away from their crisis and create a new chapter for the club?
Saddled with the most unfortunate moniker of ‘the Tinkerman’, Claudio Ranieri represents somewhat of an anomaly to the games’ pundits and experts the world over.
On the one hand you have a very knowledgeable football coach, with the utmost kindness and respect and at the same time harbouring a soft, almost heart-warming personality and nature. That is the Claudio Ranieri we have all come to love.
On the other hand, there is the failure, almost apocalyptic, fate-induced feeling that Mr Ranieri, for all his kind human traits as a person, just cannot cut it as a coach at the highest level.
His CV bores testimony to this. Ranieri has managed a host of top clubs. which, by name alone, rank amongst the most powerful and recognizable in all of European football.
Juventus, Chelsea, AS Roma, Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Valencia; the names just roll off the tip of the tongue, however, despite this, what exactly has the 59-year-old coach have to show for it?
The answer is not too much! A measly Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup (with Fiorentina in 1996), a Copa Del Rey (with Valencia in 1999), coupled with a European Super Cup (with Valencia again in 2004), are the only pieces of silverware the Italian has lifted as a coach.
Hardly surprising therefore that all of the aforementioned clubs eventually at some stage jettisoned with their boss with Ranieri being sacked from three of his last four jobs – and that is not including Chelsea.
When in Italy, a bullish Jose Mourinho openly mocked the Rome-born coach for a lack of silverware during his tenure in the dugouts and in spite of the vast resources available to him at clubs like Chelsea for example.
Brushed off casually by the ‘Tinkerman’ himself at the time, one suspects that Ranieri would have taken the ‘Special One’s’ scathing comments personally because, after all, they were true.
Admittedly, Ranieri has not been blessed with the best of luck and at the highest level of management, the gap between success and failure is an offside decision away (a la Paul Scholes vs FC Porto in 2004), or better still, is dependent on the imposition of a club President’s patience (or lack of it). Ranieri appears to have drawn the short straw on both counts.
Yes, In The Stands knows that he is not the best of coaches for obvious reasons, however, it must be noted that Claudio Ranieri has never been too far away from glorious success whilst guiding his teams.
AS Roma came mighty close to overhauling treble-winners Inter Milan in the race for the Scudetto in 2010 after Ranieri’s men embarked on an impressive 23-match unbeaten run.
Juventus finished third and then runners-up in Serie A after just two seasons in the top-flight following their promotion from Serie B, whereas second-place Chelsea could do nothing to prevent the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ blasting their way to the Premier League crown in 2004.
All the aforementioned near-misses had one distinct feature – Ranieri was steering the ship. Now he has to steer another ship and one that is heading for the rocks fast.
There exists no doubt that the Italian will do so and quickly get the Nerazzurri back where they belong and fighting for major honours domestically and on the continent. The problem lies in the fact that Ranieri’s lack of ‘X-Factor’, or ‘je ne sais quoi’ will only take him so far at the Giuseppe Meazza.
This before trigger-happy President Massimo Moratti drops the guillotine on his new boss say…two years in and once again, Claudio Ranieri will be the ‘nearly man’ of world management.
It is such a pity that such a nice human being has not got the accolades nor silverware to enshroud his name in the coaching annuals. Good luck Claudio!!!
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