Claudio Ranieri

Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri.jpg
Personal information
Date of birth 20 October 1951 (1951-10-20) (age 59)
Place of birth Rome, Italy
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current club Roma manager
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1973–1974 Roma 6 (0)
1974–1982 Catanzaro 225 (8)
1982–1984 Catania 92 (1)
1984–1986 Palermo 40 (0)
Teams managed
1987–1988 Campania Puteolana
1988–1991 Cagliari
1991–1993 Napoli
1993–1997 Fiorentina
1997–1999 Valencia
1999–2000 Atlético Madrid
2000–2004 Chelsea
2004–2005 Valencia
2007 Parma
2007–2009 Juventus
2009– Roma
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Claudio Ranieri, (born 20 October 1950 in Rome) is a retired Italian footballer and current manager of AS Roma.

Contents

Club career

Ranieri first signed as a professional football player with AS Roma, though in his two seasons with the club he only made six appearances; he also had a one-month loan spell with Siracusa. As a player, Ranieri played most of his career as a defender for Catanzaro (1974–1982), Catania (1982–1984) and Palermo (1984–1986). He was involved in four successful promotion campaigns; two with Catanzaro and one each with Catania and Palermo.

Managerial career

Campania, Cagliari

After coaching amateur side Vigor Lamezia, his first managerial position was at Campania Puteolana, a small team in Pozzuoli, where he took charge in 1987. But it was at Cagliari that he made his name, getting them promoted to Serie A from the third national division Serie C1 in successive seasons.

Napoli

He moved to coach at Napoli for two seasons. Despite finishing in fourth place in Serie A, he won no silverware. He did, however, introduce Gianfranco Zola to the first team to replace Diego Maradona.

Fiorentina

He joined Fiorentina in 1993, gaining promotion from Serie B in his first season. He subsequently had success in Serie A, winning the Coppa Italia and SuperCoppa Italiana in 1996.

Valencia – First spell

In 1997, Ranieri moved to Spain to take over the reins at Valencia CF.[1] He was the coach from 1997 to 1999 and guided Valencia to the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey in 1999. In his first spell Ranieri left a popular man, and has been credited for guiding Valencia onto subsequent successes in the Champions League and La Liga.

He was responsible for the development of several youth players at the club, among them Gaizka Mendieta, Miguel Angel Angulo and Javier Farinós. Ranieri also signed some players who would become highly successful at the Mestalla, among them goalkeeper Santiago Canizares.

Ranieri's first spell at Valencia is popularly regarded as a precursor of what would later happen at Chelsea, since both clubs achieved success which was in part attributable to the input of Ranieri.

Atlético Madrid

Ranieri joined the club in 1999 but while manager at Atlético Madrid, the club went into administration. Subsequently the team struggled on the pitch. Nearing the brink of relegation Ranieri resigned before he could be sacked by the late Atletico chairman Jesus Gil, who was well known for sacking managers.[2] Atletico would indeed go onto being relegated.

Chelsea

As Head Coach of Chelsea from 18 September 2000 to 31 May 2004, he had to work hard to overcome the language barrier. When he arrived at the London club he could speak only limited English; fortunately, the club had a few who could speak Italian and Spanish and could help translate for him on the training pitch. Ranieri's first season comprised inconsistent results, with Chelsea reaching sixth place and a UEFA Cup spot.

Ranieri worked to rebuild Chelsea in the summer of 2001, essentially creating a brand new midfield by signing Frank Lampard from West Ham United, Emmanuel Petit and Boudewijn Zenden from FC Barcelona, and Jesper Grønkjær from Ajax Amsterdam, as well as William Gallas from Olympique Marseille, in total he spent over £30 million. He was criticised however, for selling fan favourite Dennis Wise, and the fact that Chelsea's league performance did not improve much on the previous season, finishing 6th once again, but reaching the FA Cup Final, though they lost 2–0 to Arsenal.

During the 2002–03 season and throughout his Chelsea days Ranieri was accused of over-rotating his squad, and picked up the nickname of the Tinkerman from the British media. Chelsea finished the season on a high, qualifying for the Champions League after beating Liverpool 2–1 on the last day of the season. Ranieri's achievement, coming after a close season where the club were in a difficult financial situation and the only arrival was Enrique de Lucas from Espanyol on a free, was greatly appreciated by fans and the media alike. In addition, Ranieri succeeded in getting the best out of players like Samuele Dalla Bona and Mario Stanic and nurtured emerging talents in John Terry, Robert Huth, and Carlton Cole.

When Chelsea were taken over by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003, Ranieri was given a large transfer fund but also found his job under threat. Days after the takeover Abramovich was spotted meeting with England manager Sven-Göran 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 then club record £17 million, English youngsters Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole, and Glen Johnson, Argentine pair Juan Sebastián Verón and Hernán Crespo, Frenchman Claude Makélélé and Romanian star Adrian Mutu.

The heavy investment brought the best league placing for the club in 49 years, finishing runners-up in the Premier League to the first side in over a century to go an entire league season unbeaten (Arsenal), a position sufficient to automatically qualify Chelsea for the lucrative group phase of the Champions League. The club also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. That season also saw Chelsea break some club records for the least number of goals conceded and highest number of points in a season.

Inconsistent results achieved during Ranieri's tenure did not satisfy many at the club, who expected instant success. 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. He was criticised for his poor tactical substitutions during the semi-finals of the Champions League against AS Monaco, when the team lost 3–1 in the away leg and despite leading by two goals in the home leg eventually drew 2–2 and went out 5–3 on aggregate. Former English footballer and pundit David Platt used the example of Ranieri to illustrate his observation that "building a team that can win the title and actually steering this team to the title are two different matters entirely." Though some Chelsea fans admired Ranieri for battling on despite being doomed to be eventually sacked by the demanding owner, Roman Abramovich. It should also be noted in Ranieri's four seasons Chelsea gained more points than the ever previous season. Chelsea favourites under Mourinho like John Terry, Petr Čech, Arjen Robben, William Gallas, Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard were also brought to Chelsea or nurtured by Ranieri.

On 31 May 2004, after almost a year of speculation, he was finally relieved of his coaching duties at Chelsea, and his job went to José Mourinho, who had led FC Porto to successive European triumphs, picking up the UEFA Cup in 2003 and then the UEFA Champions League in 2004, beating Chelsea's conquerors in the semis, AS Monaco.

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.[3]

Return to Valencia

On 8 June 2004, he returned for a second stint as coach of Valencia on a three-year contract.[4]

Picking up the pieces after Rafael Benítez, 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, such as Marco Di Vaio, Stefano Fiore, Bernardo Corradi and Emiliano Moretti. 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 5–1 defeat to 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 Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar and persistent changes to formations and tactics, something carried forward by him from his Chelsea days.

He was sacked on 25 February 2005 after Valencia were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Steaua Bucharest.[5] Valencia were sixth in La Liga at the time of Ranieri's sacking.[6]

Quique Sanchez 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.

Parma

On 12 February 2007, one day after the 23rd Serie A matchday, Ranieri was announced as new Parma head coach following the sacking of Stefano Pioli.[7] He lost his first game in charge against U.C. Sampdoria 1–0, but successively managed to make several impressive results to help Parma in the relegation battle, obtaining 17 points in 10 matches (to be compared to his predecessor's 15 points in 23 matches), including a 4–3 unexpected away win at Palermo which caused the rosanero to sack their coach Francesco Guidolin, also thanks to goals by Italian under-21 striker Giuseppe Rossi, on loan from Manchester United. The impressive results continued in the run up to the end of the season and Parma avoided relegation with a 3–1 win over Empoli on the last day to end up at 12th position in the Serie A. The team started to hit some impressive goal-scoring form as well, seen in the 4–1 thrashing of Messina in early May.

Due to helping Parma escape from relegation, Ranieri was linked with several managing jobs including Fulham[8], Manchester City[9], and Palermo.[10] On 16 May 2007, William Hill suspended betting on him becoming Manchester City manager following a flurry of betting activity.[11] On 31 May, Parma announced Ranieri would not be the club's head coach for the following season.[12]

Juventus

On 4 June 2007, it was announced Ranieri would be taking over at Juventus, he signed a 3 year contract with the club.[13] The deal began with effect on 1 July 2007.[14] He signed some big names such as Iaquinta from Udinese and Grygera from AFC Ajax. His first season as manager of Juventus was fairly successful, he guided the team to 3rd place finish, just one season after they had been competing in the Serie B following the match-fixing scandal which rocked Italian football.[15]

In August 2008 Ranieri engaged in a war of words with new Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho, who four years earlier had replaced him at Chelsea.[16] He highlighted Inter as the strongest threat to Juventus in Serie A. After Juventus failed to register a win in seven matches during a two month period [17], he was said to have been under real pressure to maintain his job as head coach with many supporters of the club publicly criticising the team and in particular Ranieri. An end was put to the speculation when, after having an emergency board meeting on the 18 May 2009, the board sacked Ranieri after Inter Milan were confirmed Champions. He was replaced by youth system chief Ciro Ferrara.[18] Juventus finished the season 2nd, one place better than the previous season.

Roma

On 1 September 2009, Ranieri was confirmed as the new manager of Roma on a two year contract, succeeding Luciano Spalletti, who resigned that day after opening the 2009–10 season with two defeats.[19] Thus, Rome-born Ranieri became head coach of the football club he has always supported since childhood.

Under his guidance, Roma dramatically improved their performances and thrust themselves into the championship battle, reducing the gap between themselves and leaders Inter to only one point after Ranieri's team defeated the nerazzurri of José Mourinho in the Week 31 game. Roma then went on to win two more games in a row and overtook Inter by Week 33, after a 2–1 home win against Atalanta coupled with the Mourinho's side 2–2 draw against Fiorentina left the giallorossi on top of the table with five games remaining. Roma then extended its unbeaten run to 23 games, and also maintained first place in the league table, after winning a heated derby against crosstown rivals Lazio, with Ranieri being hailed by the press after managing to change the game by substituting local heroes Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi during half-time, with Roma losing 1–0; the Giallorossi then won the game 2–1 thanks to two second-half goals from Mirko Vučinić.

Managerial stats

Team Nat From To Record
G W L D Win %
Campania  Italy 1987 1988
Cagliari  Italy 1988 1991 72 23 19 30 31.94
Napoli  Italy 1991 1993 68 25 19 24 36.76
Fiorentina  Italy 1993 1997 140 56 34 50 40
Valencia  Spain 1997 1999 76 35 26 15 46.05
Atlético Madrid  Spain 1999 2000 38 9 18 11 23.68
Chelsea  England 18 September 2000 31 May 2004 199 107 46 46 53.76
Valencia  Spain 16 June 2004 25 February 2005 36 15 12 9 41.66
Parma  Italy 12 February 2007 31 May 2007 16 7 6 3 43.75
Juventus  Italy 1 July 2007 18 May 2009 92 45 17 30 48.91
Roma  Italy 1 September 2009 43 26 11 6 64.52

Honours

Player

Calcio Catania
U.S. Città di Palermo

Manager

Cagliari Calcio
ACF Fiorentina
Valencia CF

References

  1. ↑ "Valencia appoint Ranieri". BBC News. 8 June 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/3786219.stm. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
  2. ↑ http://atleticopedia.atleticomadrid.de/en/index.php/Ranieri_Resigns_as_Atletico_Madrid_Coach
  3. ↑ "Ranieri returns to popular acclaim but sidesteps Chelsea's Machiavellian world". The Independent (London). 12 October 2004. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/ranieri-returns-to-popular-acclaim-but-sidesteps-chelseas-machiavellian-world-543380.html. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
  4. ↑ CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SPORT/football/06/08/spain.ranieri/index.html. 
  5. ↑ "Coach Ranieri sacked by Valencia". BBC News. 25 February 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/4298283.stm. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
  6. ↑ Talbot, Simon (26 February 2005). "Ranieri sacked by Valencia". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2005/feb/26/europeanfootball.sport. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
  7. ↑ Ranieri appointed coach of Parma
  8. ↑ Ranieri lined up after Sven, KK snubs
  9. ↑ Ranieri linked with City after quitting Parma
  10. ↑ (Italian) Palermo, per il futuro spunta Ranieri: "Prima salvo il Parma, poi si vedrà"
  11. ↑ Ranieri set for City role
  12. ↑ "Parma announce Ranieri exit". Football Italia. 2007-05-31. http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/may31s.html. Retrieved 2007-05-31. 
  13. ↑ "Ranieri appointed Juventus coach". London: BBC News. 2007-06-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/6719901.stm. Retrieved 2007-06-04. 
  14. ↑ "Ranieri is the new Juventus coach". Juventus.com. 2007-06-04. http://www.juventus.com/uk/news/detail.aspx?lml_language_id=0&trs_id=1370000&ID=11454. Retrieved 2007-06-04. 
  15. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=766523.html
  16. ↑ http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1525517.ece
  17. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/139/italy/2009/05/17/1270880/juventus-two-months-without-a-win-after-atalanta-draw
  18. ↑ "Juventus dismiss manager Ranieri". BBC Sport (London). 2009-05-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8056251.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 
  19. ↑ "Ranieri appointed new Roma coach". BBC Sport (London). 2009-09-02. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8231959.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 

External links

A.S. Roma – current squad

1 Lobonţ · 2 Cicinho · 3 Castellini · 4 Juan · 5 Mexès · 7 Pizarro · 8 Adriano · 9 Vučinić · 10 Totti (c) · 11 Taddei · 13 Antunes · 15 Loria · 16 De Rossi · 17 Riise · 19 Júlio Baptista · 20 Perrotta · 22 Borriello · 23 Greco · 25 G. Burdisso · 27 Júlio Sérgio · 29 N. Burdisso · 30 Simplício · 32 Doni · 33 Brighi · 77 Cassetti · 87 Rosi · 89 Okaka · 94 Menez · Coach: Ranieri