Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
L will say hello to all my people in Leicester... I never got the chance to say goodbye after the title win
HISTORY never says goodbye – it just says see you at the far post.
Claudio Ranieri found little of parting’s sweet sorrow when he was jilted by Leicester in February 2017, just nine months after presiding over their 5,000-1 title miracle, because he never got the chance to say ‘arrivederci’ to his flock.
But if a fairy-tale unravelling and his brutal sacking left a bitter aftertaste, fate has dealt the great Tinkerman a deserved curtain call.
When the avuncular Italian returns to the King Power for the first time as a visiting manager tomorrow, he is
guaranteed a thunderous ovation. And nobody would blame him for milking it like a dairy maid.
“Of course I was sad that I never said goodbye,” said Ranieri. “But we know that’s how it works in football sometimes – and now is the moment to say hello to all my people in Leicester again.”
The Watford head coach, 70, only made one excursion into his old empire since he was axed – for the tearful tribute to tragic former chairman Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha three years ago.
An impressive cast of Leicester legends, including Ranieri and his predecessor Nigel Pearson, turned out for the 0-0 draw against Burnley which served as an extended memorial after the helicopter crash claimed the Foxes owner and four other lives.
CR70, whose side put one over CR7 and Manchester United last Saturday, was deeply moved.
“You can imagine how it felt – Khun Vichai was a fantastic man, a fantastic chairman, always happy, always smiling.”
But Ranieri’s enduring images of Leicester are all enshrined in that magic carpet ride to the title.
He will be a respectful guest tomorrow, but the memories of 2016 still glow like a sunset.
Standing on the pitch next to Andrea Bocelli as the great Italian tenor belted out Nessun Dorma, before captain Wes Morgan lifted the Premier League trophy,
still brings a smile to the
Emperor Claudio. He said: “I know that, in every club, when the team wins the fans go to work a little happier, but one thing made a big impression on me.
“In Leicester there is a big Indian community, and when we won the title some Indian people came up to me and said, ‘Thank you, Claudio – you have made us feel more connected to the city through football.’
“That often reminds me that football has a way of bringing people together.
“But you know, there are very few times when I think about my past – I always prefer to look forward – maybe when I have finished work, and I spend time with my grandchildren, it will be different.
“Of course the images which always remain are of the chairman and at the end with Bocelli and all the crowd around us, crazy with happiness.
“We worked so hard to achieve the Premier League title, we were together, a fantastic group who always gave their very best, and of course they will always stay in my heart.
“I’m a shy man, and I don’t want to show my emotion too much, but if I am surprised, sometimes little tears happen.
“It’s true, this will be a very emotional game for me, and I’m very proud to have played my part in Leicester’s fairytale.
“Even from the early days, the fans stayed with me and I want to thank them again one more time.
“I never stay in touch with my old players – otherwise I would need 10 mobile phones to store all the numbers – and I will always remember Leicester as a special time in my career, but I am here to write new chapters with Watford.
“I know it will be emotional before and after the match, but for 90 minutes I am their opponent and I will try to do my best.”
So how did the dream fade so rapidly, so cruelly?
Ranieri was sacrificed on the back of a torrid run yielding just five points from a possible 30, yet the moment he was gone, perversely they strung together five wins on the bounce.
He said: “I think it’s normal, when a team achieves Champions League football for the first time, all their mental energy goes into Europe with them.
“And when you play back in the Premier League, maybe the level is little down. We reached the knockout stage one game early, and then our form in the Premier League was soso, but that’s football.
“I was very sad, and I think the fans were also sad.”
This will be a very emotional game for me, and I’m very proud to have played my part in Leicester’s fairytale