MAD? YES STUPID? NO!
Ranieri is back promising ‘miracle burgers’ for
CLAUDIO RANIERI admits he is “mad but not stupid” after putting his reputation back on the line by taking the Fulham job.
The nation fell in love with Ranieri when he led Leicester City to the title and pulled off the greatest miracle in Premier League history.
It would have been easy for him to bask in the glory of his achievement and yet the Tinkerman is back at Craven Cottage because he confessed he loves English football so much. But the Italian also insisted he would never have taken over at rock bottom Fulham unless he truly believed he could keep them up. And he is promising to take his new players to McDonald’s if they can keep their first clean sheet of the season. Ranieri, 67, said: “If I came here it’s because I believe. I’m mad but not stupid.
“I think I can do this. It’s not easy. Nothing is easy but I believe. I feel good when I stay here in England, it’s my country because the football is so fascinating. That is why I am here.
“I believe Fulham is a little big club, a historical club.
“After I arrived in Parma, at the end of the February, it was the same.
“I called my friends and they said, ‘You are mad to go there. Never.
It’s not possible to save this team.’ And I saved the team. We saved Parma before the last match. I love this kind of battle. That’s my kind of character.
“I forgot Leicester, I forgot Chelsea, I forgot everything, not only in England but also everything else in my career. I forget the fairy tale. Now it’s important, don’t think about the miracle.
“It’s important to be ready together. The club, the players, the fans, together.
“Together they have to support us in a bad moment. And this is a bad moment, because Fulham are at the bottom of the table.
“For me, I start again every day, every season and now for me this is a fantastic challenge. Difficult, very difficult, but I love this job.”
Ranieri was all smiles, handshakes and soundbites yesterday, his sacking from Leicester 21 months ago (less than a year after leading them to the title) has not affected his lovable personality. He can walk to Craven Cottage from his house – he has been a regular at games – having fallen in love with this posh part of south west London while in charge of Chelsea more than a decade ago. Ranieri spent last season in charge of French side Nantes after his controversial sacking by Leicester. “It was good to cut everything in England and go. Now you are happy to see me again. But I always looked at football. I am crazy for football. My hobby is football. I love football.” Ranieri also knows that he will have to pull off another miracle to keep Fulham up. They have yet to keep a clean sheet, have a goal difference of minus 20 and £100million worth of summer signings are playing like strangers. Ranieri rewarded his