Claudio Ranieri- top man

[Lady Whistledown]

Anyone else think this guy is a total star?

I love listening to his post match interviews, mainly because of his shaky grasp of English and comedy mannerisms.

"Last night....50,00 Turkish people....only 400 Chelsea fans...but they make so much noise...FANTASTIC!" (nods furiously and grins)

He is the only boss worth listening to on the Premiership highlights on Saturdays. You never hear him whinging about the ref's performance, or blaming a defeat on a linesman, or saying how unfair it all is (unlike Wenger/ Souness/ Fergie/ Allardyce/ Redknapp).

He's pretty much always smiling as well, the guy is a breath of fresh air. Easily my favourite Premiershp boss (only Strachan comes close for comedy value).

 

[fatbadger]

I'm with you on this one. I'm no fan of Chelsea, but Ranieri is a top bloke. I think you are being a little unfair on a number of Premiershite managers, but he is certainly far, far preferable to the likes of Ferguson and Wenger.

 

[Lammy]

As much as I hate Southampton I love listening to Strachan when he's clearly on the edge! Brilliant! Can you imagine what his half time team talks are like if that is what he is like with the press! Certainly beats monotone Coppout!

 

[Trigger]

Gotta agree with that, the only reason i watch the premiership is to see Ranieri interviewed, he cracks me up!

It's like Lee Evans live in the West End

 

[CHAPPERS]

I agree, next England manager please.

 

[Gotsmanov]

He's hilarious in interview, and looks like a hybrid of Lord Charles, the ventriloquist's doll ("You silly arse!"), and John Inman.

 

[Easy 10]

Ranieri is good value, seems genuinely likeable and I do enjoy his interviews.

Strachan gets on my tits though. He always treats the interviewer like a complete feckin retard, and is just itching to try to make them look stupid. Its funny at first, but the whole act is getting boring now.

 

[GUNTER]

When Ranieri came to this country - do you remember - he used to have a translator for his interviews - which pissed me off no end as I thought bloody foreign manager.

However, he has made an effort to learn the language and I agree, his animated and up beat interviews are brilliant. I love the guy!

 

[Lammy]

Sorry but I think there is plenty of life in the old "Make the interviewer look like a complete twat" routine.

Unless it is Garth Crooks as it is not even sport.

 

[Simster]

Wenger's fued with Ferguson is tedious in the extreme.

I wish Vyvian from the young ones would do his cricket bat trick with the pair of them.

That said, Wenger is a managerial genius. He has turned good players into world class players, has an eye for a bargain, and is tactically very astute. Unlike Man Utd, I can't remember Wenger spending more than 5 or 6 million on any one player, even at the height of the TV boom.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Strachan is my second favourite- apart from those two, the rest tend to say the same thing week after week. Maybe Micky Adams has a bit of character as well, but in the main, Premiership managers say exactly the same thing every week.

It would be great if Arsene Wenger turned up to the press conference one week and said

"to tell you the truth, we were total bollocks today. Cole was appalling, Pires dived all over the place, Lehmann couldn't catch a cold, our passing was shit, Sol's attempts at defending faintly embarrassing, and Henry couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. I'd like to blame the officials for singling us out unfairly, but they were all frankly faultless, and the shambles that was today's performance is entirely down to my poor management skills and my rubbish players' transparent lack of ability"

 

[Seagull over NZ]

Funniest thing about Ranieri's translator which was shown on Soccer AM the other week - Ranieir talks for about 30 seconds and the (English) translator looks a bit benused and says "It was a game of two halves". Classic moment.

 

[Gwylan]

You being a bit unfair on Curbs. Not only is he ex-Albion but he doesn't whinge, is always straight with interviewers and has done a great job on a tight budget.

Think Chris Coleman is shaping up well too.

 

[albiongirl]

I like Ranieri after what happened last night in the Champs league he might start to get more respect. Top Bloke.

I remember when he first started and he had a translator was that in interviews you hear the translator in fluent Italian and translate back in Cockney. Well funny!!

 

[Easy 10]

It would be great if Arsene Wenger turned up to the press conference one week and said

"to tell you the truth, we were total bollocks today. Cole was appalling, Pires dived all over the place, Lehmann couldn't catch a cold, our passing was shit, Sol's attempts at defending faintly embarrassing, and Henry couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. I'd like to blame the officials for singling us out unfairly, but they were all frankly faultless, and the shambles that was today's performance is entirely down to my poor management skills and my rubbish players' transparent lack of ability"

The day that happens, I will attend the next match at Withdean wearing a pink dress, fishnet stocking, stilettos, a kiss-me-quick straw hat, and crotchless knickers.

And I havn't done that since the Swindon game.

 

[JJ McClure]

I used to work near Heathrow right next to Chelsea's training ground. Popped in one day to get a shirt signed for my Chelsea supporting mate and said hello to Claudio and well done for beating Man U at the weekend with a big smile he replied "Yes, good game, thank you" in an accent that was very much like Borat.
Top chap, a breath of fresh air compared to most managers.

 

[Danny Seagull's Mate]

When Ranieri came to this country he used to have a translator for his interviews -


Yeah I remember that....he used to go on for ages in Italian about what he thought of the match then the translator came out with something like:

'It was a good game'

when Ranieri blatantly said much more than that


Top bloke

 

[Wozza]

From The Fiver:

"It is like a chef. With good ingredients you can cook anything, a fantastic dinner. I hope I can become the Gordon Ramsey of football. At the moment, Sir Alex is Gordon - I have only one Michelin star whereas he has three"

- Claudio Ranieri rustles up an extended analogy.