IAN LADYMAN’S VERDICT
By THE clock tower at Leicester’s Haymarket at 6pm yesterday the numbers were somewhat short of the 800 some had predicted would join a march to the King Power Stadium in support of Claudio ranieri.
There were probably about 150 men, women and children present and when local TV asked them to sing their hero’s name for the cameras they had to do it again because their first effort wasn’t loud enough.
So it was not exactly a gathering notable for its rawness but then it was a filthy night and the walk across town to the stadium was coming up at more than two miles on Google maps. maybe some just decided that the bus was the better option.
anyway, the last protest at the clock tower had taken place a month ago in reaction to the election of donald Trump and only 50 people showed up for that one.
So here in Leicester it seems that the treatment of their trophywinning football manager has aroused more emotion than the identity of the new leader of the free world and that feels both right and wrong at the same time.
Suffice to say, they will lament ranieri’s exit in this part of the east midlands for a little while yet and the playing of Nessun Dorma 15 minutes before kick-off seemed as generous as it did appropriate. The response from the Leicester crowd was certainly moving.
THERE is anger in Leicester at the moment and there is no surprise there. rarely has the sacking of a football manager appeared to mean so much to so many.
it was the right decision, of course. Loyalty to ranieri could only be allowed to stretch so far and the club’s owners would have been reckless to allow their team’s catapult towards the Championship to continue unchecked.
it says much for how emotion can cloud normally sound judgement that the popular narrative of the last few days has been one suggesting ranieri should have been retained regardless of his dreadful results this season. How ridiculous that notion is. Would last night’s 3-1 win over Liverpool have occurred under ranieri? The trajectory of his season suggests not.
That does not mean that Leicester folk — and indeed romantics far and wide — should not mourn ranieri’s leaving even if the bloke driving a hearse up and down outside the stadium last night should probably be advised to find a more meaningful outlet for his imagination. That is the kind of lame stunt best left to desperate betting companies.
But, yes, we should regret what has happened to last season’s Premier League champions and, yes, it is right that people turned up wearing ranieri masks for this game. There is currently an online Crowd Funding effort trying to raise £10,000 needed to build a ranieri statue. So far they have £700 in their pocket and let’s hope that sum rises quickly.
ranieri did something genuinely special for this city and this club. Those who know say that some of the credit should go to his predecessor Nigel Pearson and his backroom staff. That may be true but supporters see things in shades of clear black and white and to them ranieri will always be the man who took them to the edge of heaven and walked them straight through the gates.
That is why the coffee shop that last season decorated its cappuccinos with images of Jamie Vardy has this week changed its template to ranieri.
That is why people such as Hayley Karoo embarked on a 300-mile round trip from her home in Cardiff just to blow a kiss at a mural of the italian that still stands loud, proud and striking on a wall in Kate Street.
There have been some strange reactions, too. There always are. my taxi driver suggested that ranieri should have been given a two-week holiday. ‘Not in italy, somewhere nice,’ he said. meanwhile on the BBC, supporter Sandra Fixter declared that the players should be lined up outside the training ground and birched. She did not specify whether they should be allowed to wear their Premier League medals while it happens.
The players are the real villains here, of course. We know that. regardless of attitude, they failed ranieri this season in the one place it mattered most, on the pitch.
Last night there were no boos as they took to the grass to warm up. interim manager Craig Shakespeare called for unity and it appeared people were listening.
The only thing we know now is that everybody will move on. as the Buddhists so familiar to this club say: ‘This too shall pass.’
On hearing that BBC radio Leicester were not yet ready to dispense team news at 6.15pm, the cabbie turned the sound down.
‘They are still talking about the manager,’ he said. ‘i have heard enough about that now.’