Claudio Ranieri vows to turn the tide at struggling Leicester and insists: ‘There are a lot of sharks out there – but I am on a windsurfer’
Struggling Leicester City boss vows to turn the tide with title-winning 'warriors' who are 'used to fighting'
CLAUDIO RANIERI knows he remains in choppy waters despite the public vote of confidence from chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
But Leicester’s title-winning miracle worker has vowed to navigate his way through the “sharks” who are circling him.
And the under-fire Italian insists he is not out of his depth, despite his Foxes swimming perilously close to the relegation rocks.
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Ahead of Wednesday night's FA Cup fourth round replay against Derby, Ranieri said: “There are a lot of sharks out there - but I am on a windsurfer.
“I accept this. This is our life. Last season was a fairytale, this season is not, but it is OK — we are still alive.
“This is football. You win three matches and you are a god, you lose three and you are not a god!”
Ranieri’s Foxes remain in freefall — the only club in the top four tiers of English football yet to score a goal in 2017.
Last year’s champions have also lost their last FOUR Premier League games on the spin — winning just one of their last nine — and are sinking so fast they are in danger of suffering from the bends!
But having been assured Saturday’s six-pointer at fellow relegation rivals Swansea will not be his swansong — regardless of the result — Ranieri was in good form.
In fact, if his players showed the same positivity and confidence he displayed they would not be 16th and hovering a point off the drop zone.
Rumours persist the 65-year-old Italian has lost the dressing room, but he has clearly not lost his sense of humour as he confronted every question fired his way.
He said: “The dressing room is fantastic. It is the same as last season. I speak the same sh*** English and they still understand me.
“I say to my players, ‘My door is always open’. Sometimes I come to them and sometimes they come to me. It’s a fantastic relationship.
“I love my players — they gave me something special in my career.
“Never before had I won title. I will thank them for all of my life.
“The vote of confidence from my chairman is more for you than for me. Maybe now he wants to stop all the speculation.
“I know I have the club’s confidence. Is it the ‘dreaded’ vote of confidence? Come on man, what do you want?
“This is not a crisis. Of course when you don’t win the players lack a little confidence — it’s normal. But, fortunately, these players are warriors and are used to fighting.”
Yet Ranieri admits some of those warriors will not be fighting against Derby at the King Power as he looks to lessen the workload of his embattled troops.
The last thing he wants is to lose the East Midlands derby — but knows he must be wary of over-loading his players as they continue to fight on three fronts.
The Foxes face Sevilla in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on February 22, so the Italian is ready to turn Tinkerman once again.
He said: “In our position it is important I stay with the soldiers who know the problem, who know the enemy.
“For this reason I have to protect some players who need more recovery and more rest.
“I also want to give an opportunity to the other players because we pay a lot of money for them and they have a lot of quality.
“Christian Fuchs has had recovery time, with Ben Chilwell coming in. Maybe Wes Morgan and Robert Huth didn’t recover from games in the same way.
“Last season Morgan was at the Copa American Cup and I gave him a lot of days off during the season to rest.
“This season that has not always been possible. So Wes will rest against Derby. I can change little things, but the normal team must continue.
“And the players who go on the pitch must give me 120 per cent — 100 per cent is not enough!”
Ranieri defended Riyad Mahrez, who has looked a shadow of the player who last season romped to the PFA Player of the Year award and also collected the African Player of the Year gong.
He said: “He is frustrated as he knows better than me, the assists, goals, everything he made last season isn’t happening for him now.
“Today he said to me, ‘Do I need to do something more?’. I said, ‘No, you’re doing well. You are Riyad Mahrez. Everyone knows you now and everybody wants to kill you’.”
Judging by Ranieri’s defiant mood at Leicester, he is not about to roll over and die yet.