Although Jose Mourinho deservedly dominated the headlines this week after Inter’s stunning win over Barcelona, don’t underestimate the achievement of another coach whose Italian side specializes in overturning deficits.
Last weekend at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Claudio Ranieri took one of the biggest gambles of his career. With his Roma side trailing Lazio 1-0 in the Enternal City Derby, the coach who was nicknamed “Tinkerman” while at Chelsea, embarked on some serious half-time risk-taking.
Roma, needing a win to go back above Inter in the race for the Scudetto, emerged for the second half without iconic captain Francesco Totti and vice captain and fellow Roman Daniele De Rossi.
Ranieri had replaced the fans’ two favorite players with the less glamorous Jeremy Menez and Rodrigo Taddei.
Roma’s stunned fans barely had time to digest the news when the side conceded a penalty. Roma’s 23-game unbeaten run looked in serious danger. Yet Lazio’s Sergio Floccari saw his penalty attempt saved and Roma then stormed back for a 2-1 win to once more go above Inter. Taddei won the penalty that led to Roma’s equalizer and Menez won the free kick from which Mirko Vucinic scored the winner.
Writing in La Gazetta della Sport, Luigi Garlando said, “This man [Ranieri] is supposed to be Mr. Uncertain.
So-called colonels like Mourinho and Capello wouldn’t even have dreamed of making such a move.”
It is significant that Signor Garlando mentioned Mourinho — and not just because Roma and Inter now seem locked in a two-horse race for the title over the remaining four rounds.
Although the Portuguese coach has reveled in upsetting just about everybody involved with Italian football, his set-to with Ranieri — who is as kindly and well-liked as anyone in the game — was especially noteworthy.
When Ranieri took his former club Juventus to play Inter, Mourinho mocked him for “never having won anything”. That put-down drew a rebuke from Ranieri who accused Jose of showing a “lack of class”.
At the time, one suspected Mourinho might have been venting his frustration at suggestions that the spadework for his success at Stamford Bridge had been done by Ranieri before he became, in his own words, “a dead man walking” under the threat of dismissal by Roman Abramovich.
Of course Mourinho was technically correct. In his time at Napoli, Fiorentina and Valencia, Ranieri failed to collect any major honors. Indeed, the Italian admitted as much, saying: “He [Mourinho] has won and I haven’t.
But I’ve been in football a long time and I’ve always moved up, which means I have done a good job even without winning.”
But Mourinho’s attack may also have had something to do with Ranieri’s nature. He is as Italian as they come, an old-school Roman who is steeped in the customs and protocols of calcio.
He is part of the Establishment and he is also a gentleman: Ranieri believes in respecting the media, no matter what they say about you — he publicly rebuked Mourinho for refusing to talk to the Italian press.
Of course, Ranieri’s popularity in England was largely a result of his smart approach to dealing with that country’s notorious fickle press.
From “Tinkerman” to “dead man walking”, he delighted in attempting ambitious English phrases. Condescending as ever, the English delighted in his slightly absurd attempts to learn “their” language.
Of course, he also sensed the media’s suspicion of Abramovich and his “vulgar” billions of pounds. Ranieri displayed a dignity rarely seen in beleaguered managers, and the public loved him for it.
As he prepared for his swansong — Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Monaco, knowing that failure to progress to the final would confirm his sacking — he greeted the press with, “Hello my sharks, welcome to the funeral.”
Shortly after, the Special One came to town.
So, off went the Tinkerman, again failing to win anything in his spells at Valencia, Parma or Juventus (where he oversaw second- and third-placed finishes in Serie A). These recent seasons provided further confirmation — if we needed it — that this nice man is a hard-working, honest manager who doesn’t win you trophies.
Then came the return to Rome, and the club he had worshipped as a child then played for as an adult. It was all going according to script: a nostalgic return to his first love, perhaps a dignified retreat from the role after a season or two of modest achievement… and that would be the last we would hear from Claudio Ranieri.
Now, though, he has the chance to guide Roma to its first scudetto for a decade. With a one point lead and only four games to go, Ranieri’s side holds its destiny in its own hands. What is more, Italians are set to temporarily abandon their traditional allegiances if a Roma win means no title for Jose Mourinho, the stage villain of Serie A, the enemy of Italian football.
Claudio Ranieri has waited his entire career for this. Roma undoubtedly have the tougher fixtures between now and May 16, but it is not unthinkable that they could win all four remaining games.
Whatever happens, my sharks, welcome to the rebirth of Claudio Ranieri.
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