PARTY GOOD FOR THE CLAUS
Ranieri defends his flops over festive jolly
CLAUDIO RANIERI has defended his decision to let his Fulham flops party on.
The Cottagers are bottom of the league and have won only once in four games since Ranieri took over at Craven Cottage.
But the Italian had no problem allowing his players to jet off for a boozy Christmas fancy dress knees-up in Amsterdam, hours after their 4-1 defeat at Manchester United last Saturday.
Ranieri said: “I trust the players. I am free in this case. If they want to make a Christmas party, they can do it.
Work
“For me it’s important that they work hard in the training session and in the match. For me this is more important than the Christmas party.
“You can produce a result or not produce a result whether you have a Christmas party or not. It’s important to work hard.
“My players worked hard in Manchester. We ran a lot. Maybe it was the one match where we ran the most kilometres.
“It’s not that a Christmas party makes something better or worse. That’s it. I trust in my players.”
Ranieri let his Leicester players fly to Copenhagen for a Christmas fancy dress bash in 2015 while they were on their way to stunning English football by winning the Premier League title.
But his Fulham players are in a very different position having won just one of their last 13 matches, and badly need a result at home to West Ham today.
Ranieri, who has been in charge for four weeks, blasted them for playing like “lambs” in the first half of their thumping at Old Trafford.
But yesterday he said: “I hope they play like lions now!
“The first month is positive. We wanted a little more but I’m satisfied with the players. They needed time to understand everything.”
Ranieri (right) has also called on his team to stay calm in what promises to be a lively derby.
Referee Mike Dean has already dished out five red cards so far this season.
And Ranieri said: “It is a London derby. It’s normal to be aggressive in games like this. But, be calm.”
The game is also a clash between two of the Premier League’s oldest managers in Ranieri, 67, and Manuel Pellegrini, 65. But both men believe they can go on for another 10 years.
Ranieri said: “If you do your job well you have an opportunity to continue, whether you are old or young.” MANUEL PELLEGRINI has warned his West Ham stars to forget about going gung-ho at Craven Cottage.
The Chilean started his Premier League return with four straight defeats.
But the ex-Manchester City boss has since transformed the side to play like a “big team” – and seen his players score three goals in each of their last three consecutive wins.
Now, before facing bottom side Fulham amid a run of winnable games, Pellegrini wants the Hammers to balance all-out attack with disciplined defence.
“We are on the way to playing like a big team in that we have a lot of improvements in personality, especially when we go to play away,” he said.
“It was my mentality I tried to bring to this club.
“You must try to score as much as you can every game and if not score one then go close to your box and try to defend.
“We always go for the game from the first minute to the last and try to score before the home team.
“We are playing as a big team but there are a lot of things we must improve.
“You must be very careful to be a balanced team, be careful of counter-attack.”
After facing Fulham, the 11th-placed Hammers host Watford, then travel to Southampton and Burnley before Brighton at home.
Birmingham – in the third round of the FA Cup – are the first visitors of the New Year, before Arsenal come calling on January 12.