Leicester unlikely to repeat title run: Ranieri
Print Edition
CLAUDIO Ranieri warned Leicester City fans, who were still in dreamland yesterday following their side’s “unbelievable” English Premier League triumph, that a repeat next season could not happen.
The Foxes’ Italian manager, talking for the first time since Leicester’s victory was sealed on Monday evening when nearest rival Tottenham Hotspur failed to beat Chelsea, said their target now as champions would be a top-10 position.
It was a typical response from Ranieri, who has spent all season dampening down the expectations of fans only to finally oversee a triumph considered perhaps the most unlikely in the annals of English football.
Ranieri, back at the Leicester training ground and meeting up with his players for the first time since they were crowned champions, described their success as “unbelievable”.
He said it was the manner in which they had played “with their heart and soul” that had been the secret of their success.
Yet asked if Leicester could repeat the feat, which had been rated a 5,000-1 shot at the start of the season, in its next campaign, Ranieri told Sky Sports: “No. I think no, but of course we want to continue to build.
“When I came here, the project was to build a very good foundation and slowly, slowly grow up together and in three, four years to fight for the Europa League, then the Champions League.
“This season is out of our project, but our foundations are very, very solid. We know very well we have to fight for 10th position,” he said. “We want to do our best. I’m positive and I want to fight. Yes, a top-10 target, to make a very good campaign in Europe and the Cup and to make sure the season is safe and then something more.”
Ranieri said there had been no great celebrations in his house in the Midlands, unlike those of his players who had enjoyed a party at the home of their star striker Jamie Vardy after watching Spurs draw 2-2 with Chelsea on TV, the result that sealed the crown.
He had flown home from Italy, where he had lunch with his 96-year-old mother Renata, on Monday evening and watched the game with his wife, before calling the rest of his family back in Rome.
After 28 years as a manager with a famed reputation but who always seemed to miss out on the biggest prizes, Ranieri smiled: “Look, in my mind, I always believed I have to win a title.”
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