‘I knew I was dead’ – Ex-Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri opens up on moment he realised Roman Abramovich would sack him
CLAUDIO RANIERI has revealed the moment that he knew he would be sacked as Chelsea boss.
The Italian managed the Blues between 2000 and 2004 and spent three years building the team before the club was bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003.
Ranieri, 71, was given a large transfer budget to further invest in the team by Abramovich and he spent £120million on the likes of Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Claude Makelele as well as Argentine duo Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo.
The transfers worked as Chelsea improved on their previous Premier League finish of 4th to 2nd.
Ranieri also led the club to the Champions League semi-finals but missed out on the final after losing to Ligue 1 side Monaco.
When he was hired, he insisted that Abramovich had not demanded trophies and only for him to “build a team”.
Despite the success of the season, there was continuous speculation over his job security.
And this was fuelled by Chelsea’s chief executive at the time Peter Kenyon.
He had suggested that if the club did not win anything in that season it would be viewed as a failure.
Which seemed harsh considering the Premier League title went to the Arsenal Invincibles and the Champions League was picked up by Jose Mourinho‘s exciting Porto side.
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And this is when Ranieri realised that he would not last in the role.
He told Paramount+: “When Peter Kenyon made the first interview I said to myself, ‘finished Claudio, you are dead’.
“He has said, ‘if Claudio does not win any title it is a disaster.
“I said, ‘why’, Roman never asked me something like this in the first year.”
The club held talks with England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson but he stayed at his post with the national side.
And after Ranieri was relieved of his duties in May 2004, Mourinho was handed the job.
Kenyon, 69, was also interviewed, argued that life was “easy” with Ranieri but a decision on his future was quickly made.
He had held a similar role at Manchester United for the previous six years and worked closely with legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
During this time the Red Devils won a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble in 1999.
He said: “Claudio is a very nice guy and you will have an easy life.
“I never had an easy life with Sir Alex.
“We took the decision early on, that we will make a change and we will only make the change, when we have found the right person.”
Mourinho went on to win the Premier League twice in two seasons before being sacked in 2007.
Ranieri continues to manage to this day after spells in Spain, France, England and even in international football with Greece.
He managed to win the Premier League title in 2016 after a miracle season with Leicester City.
The Italian is currently coaching Serie B side Cagliari chasing promotion back to the top flight in Italy.