manager Ranieri that he wold stay even if the Premier
League club were relegated. Photo: Filed.
Claudio Ranieri promised Leicester City's owners he would stay
at the club even if they were relegated from the Premier League
this season.
Thankfully for Ranieri and his players, that does not look a likely
occurrence with Leicester surprisingly topping the Premier
League table after 16 games.
The revelation serves to remind just how extraordinary
Leicester's season has been thus far, surpassing even Ranieri's
wildest dreams upon his appointment.
"Look I didn't believe when I signed my contract that in
December we are top of the league,’ Ranieri said.
"But two things were very, very fantastic for me. One, to hear
from my owner that he wants in the next two years to maintain
Leicester in the Premier League, then grow up and try to achieve
the top places.
"The other is when the son asked me, 'If everything goes wrong,
you stay with us in the Championship?' I said, 'Yes I will stay
here.'
"So the father and the son wanted to know [on each possibility].
This was amazing for me because there was a balance – there
was a big project but also they wanted me to stay even is
everything is wrong. It was important for me to understand this
philosophy."
While Leicester's Thai owners clearly have big plans for the
club, the lack of pressure to deliver instantly has seemingly
bought the best out of Ranieri and his players.
Ranieri said it was only the second time in his career he had
been afforded such support, with the first coming with Cagliari
between 1988 and 1991.
"When I was young at Cagliari, we won Serie C, we won Serie B
and we arrived in Serie A. But the first year was like Leicester
last season – at the end of the first half, we were not just down
but down-down," he added.
"Nobody believed in us, a lot of journalists asked the chairman,
'OK, you sack Claudio? He won Serie C and B but not in Serie A'.
But he told me, 'Don't worry Claudio, we went with you from C
to B to A, we’d go with you from A to B to C'."
Leicester can maintain top spot in the Premier League with a
win at Everton on Saturday.
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