It is quite a small room: plain white walls, two three-seater sofas, a couple of pot-plants. If it were not for the black-and-white pictures of 19 Premier League managers hung on the walls, it could be a humdrum suite in a mid-ranking business hotel. Instead, Claudio Ranieri’s office at the King Power stadium has become the nerve-centre of the greatest fairytale English football has ever seen, the place where plots have been hatched and victories toasted.
Ranieri’s decision to adorn the wall with images of his peers was designed to make them feel at ease when they visited him after matches; instead, they have assumed the look of big-game trophies, all eclipsed by Ranieri and his remarkable band of title winners this season.
The message to supporters at Ranieri’s unveiling, delivered by the chief executive Susan Whelan, was “Trust in us” yet not even the most optimistic Leicester follower could have envisaged how the season would pan out. Bookmakers gave Sir Alex Ferguson winning Strictly Come Dancing shorter odds than Leicester claiming the league title but Ranieri has delivered the feel-good story of the decade.
He has been box office for much of the season. He has entered a new phrase – ‘Dilly Ding, Dilly Dong’ – into the football lexicon, a reference to his method of ensuring his players are focused by ringing an imaginary bell in training sessions.
His genial persona extends to the training ground. He has an unprintable nickname for Jamie Vardy and last week ordered a standing ovation for Shinji Okazaki after the Japanese striker passed his English exam in London. In October he delivered on his promise to reward his players for clean sheets by taking them to Peter Pizzeria in Leicester city centre, while he was happy for them to fly out to Copenhagen for their Christmas party dressed as superheroes and cartoon characters.
Ranieri would be the first to admit that he inherited a strong set-up and squad from Pearson but he has turned good players into superstars. Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante figured on every wish-list among Europe’s top clubs and their emergence is a triumph for diligent recruitment, led by assistant manager Steve Walsh.
Ranieri jokes about Walsh’s doggedness in his pursuit of players — “He kept saying Kante, Claudio, Kante” — but they have been perfect additions, blending supreme footballing gifts with the kind of clubbable personalities that Ranieri can blend into a team. One moment, in particular, sums up the selflessness of this squad.
It was in the 2-1 win over Watford in November: Leicester had just been awarded a penalty and Mahrez, the string-puller who has sprinkled stardust across the country, is about to take it. “The manager said at the beginning of the season that I was the designated penalty taker,” Mahrez recalls. “I took the ball but ‘Vards’ came to me and said ‘Riyad please give me the ball, I want to get the ninth goal in a row’. I was going to take it but then I thought no he’s right, so I gave him the ball to continue his run.
Vardy did score that penalty and later that month shattered the 12-year old record held by Ruud Van Nistlerooy by scoring in 11 successive league games. His record goalscoring feat saw him given a shirt signed by the squad. Tellingly, there were also no complaints from within when the club decided to dismantle their strict wage structure and hand him a new £75,000-a-week contract.
Can they keep this going next season? The Parisian Kante is the one star expected to leave. He is understood to have a £20million buy-out clause but with Champions League football assured, surely nobody wants to jump off the ride.
Won't Sell Our Players: Owners
Bangkok: Leicester City's Thai owners vowed to resist any pressure to sell the much-coveted stars who have propelled them to an unlikely title victory. Speaking to Thai television, club vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said the Midlands outfit was under no pressure to sell — and had in fact already contacted a number of potential new recruits. “Leicester is not the team that will sell players — as I said on the first day... we want to create a foundation of the team. They have grown together,” he said.
Monk leads Thai praise for fantastic Foxes
The Buddhist monk who has blessed Leicester City’s players and stadium said he prayed deep into the night as the Foxes pulled off one of the biggest ever sporting shocks by winning the EPL. Phra Prommangkalachan, who has travelled to the Midlands club several times with its billionaire Thai owner, said he was praying during second-placed Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea, which gave Leicester the title. “I prayed for them from 2am till 4am (local time during the Chelsea-Spurs match)... but the victory does not come from me, it’s from the team and the goodness of the owner,” he said.
Mamma mia, now it’s all true. I always knew I’d win a title.Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve achieved more than the targets I was set. Today, everyone is paying homage to me, but I would like to remind that I’m the same man who was sacked by Greece.
Claudio ranieri, leicester city manager
Leicester are the first first-time winners of the English top-flight since Nottingham Forest in 1978
Claudio Ranieri has become the 8th different manager to win the English Premier League title.
Leicester City are the 24th team to win the English top flight.