Spare us the fake outrage and don’t patronise ‘little’ Leicester for firing Ranieri
ON last night’s philosophical Radio 4 show Moral Maze they discussed why Claudio Ranieri’s sacking had ignited a national debate about loyalty.
The previous Wednesday the subject was the morality of fake news. Next week I suggest they combine the two shows and ask why football is inspiring such fake morality among people who couldn’t care if the sport was outlawed tomorrow.
When news of Ranieri’s sacking broke, non-footballing talking-heads, news schedulers and commentators went into overdrive, feigning outrage on fans’ behalf, using it as another reason to claim the game now borders on satanic worship.
A radio station rang to ask if I’d talk about “The People’s Game’s darkest day”.
I winced, laughed, then told them I didn’t fancy taking part in an angry weep-fest over a story that boiled down to a well-paid man getting sacked because his bosses felt he was no longer up to the job.
Instead I wrote a piece at the front of the Mirror saying most footballing fairy tales don’t have happy endings and the only people who matter in this saga are Leicester’s paying fans.
Most of whom feel sad and slightly guilty but, having watched their team slide towards relegation for six months, also a sense of relief.
I was glad to see at the King Power Stadium on Monday that was the case. There were a few “Grazie Claudio” signs and a woman held an A4 sheet which politely showed her disgust, but fans queued to shake the Thai owners’ hands, players who had been demonised as gutless plotters were applauded during the warm-up and cheered as the team sheets were read out.
And that was before they smashed Liverpool 3-1. By the end of the game any bad blood seemed to have vanished, and they had moved on from Ranieri to the point where they sang to their acting manager: “Shakey, Shakey, give us a wave”.
But then the same thing happened at Chelsea last season after Jose Mourinho was sacked. Will those players, and Roman Abramovich, be vilified for letting down Mourinho if they pick up the Premier League in May? No.
Leicester will never move on from Ranieri. He will always be a legend who delivered the impossible dream. But clubs have to live in the present, and Leicester are in such real danger of relegation that something drastic had to be done. For outsiders to believe they should have stuck with the genial Italian for sentimental reasons, because they are a small club who got lucky under his guidance, is patronising in the extreme.
Almost as patronising as the betting company who sent a hearse to the King Power on Monday carrying a bouquet which spelled out: “RIP FOOTBALL”.
Every day, in every highpressure industry, managers who oversee a huge dip in their staff ’s performance are sacked. Only in football are the ones doing the sacking accused of acting immorally and killing their industry. Because football has been deemed to be operating on some heightened moral plane.
It’s a thinking that allows politicians to drag FA chairmen into the Commons and slaughter them for presiding over falling ethical standards, on the grounds that parents spend £50 on a shirt for their children, so football is in the role model industry.
Even though MPs never tire of knifing their leaders or setting sleazy examples.
Leicester may still be relegated but a week on from Ranieri’s sacking they look in a better shape to survive.
How much worse could it have been if they’d stuck with him, dropped into the Championship, lost top players and struggled amid a very public blame game?
Would Ranieri’s cheerleaders, who voiced disgust at his sacking, be sending sympathy messages and “RIP Leicester” wreaths?
Or would they be accusing the club of arrogantly living off last season’s glories and shying away from the tough decisions needed to survive?
A moral maze indeed.