Claudio Ranieri happy with Tinkerman nickname
Thursday 20 August 2015 21:05, UK
Leicester City’s new star player Gokhan Inler will have to quickly get used to his new manager’s foibles, writes Sky Sports' Rob Dorsett...
Switzerland captain Gokhan Inler walked into the media centre for his first news conference at the King Power stadium, alongside the man who brought him here – Claudio Ranieri.
But Inler stood awkward, alone and a little bemused, as Ranieri proceeded to carry out his customary handshake with every member of the assembled media.
There were twice as many cameras and journalists as usual, here to witness the introduction of Inler, and ironically that meant the star attraction had to wait for two or three minutes before Ranieri joined him, and I could begin my questioning.
"I'm very happy!" beamed the Italian veteran, who's now in charge of his 16th team in 29 years of coaching. He has every right to be. Not only has he now landed his No 1 summer target, but he's also had the perfect start to his return to the Premier League.
I asked him whether the victories against Sunderland and West Ham had taken the pressure off him, after numerous dissenting voices against his appointment last month. Had those six points settled his nerves?
"No! Nervous? No! I'm very happy," Ranieri replied. "It's not nervous, my job. I love playing with my team. There are lots of young players here, and I want to help them with every ball they touch. At Chelsea, there were champions, they were older, they were used to it. They knew their positions more. Here, I have to work a bit more with the players, and I love doing that. I can teach them things.
"I have a big passion for my job. I love my job!" That big smile spreads across his face again, shifting his glasses up on his cheeks.
My next question is whether it's been a dream start for him at Leicester – maybe even better than he could've dreamt.
"I don't dream too much," comes the answer. "I'm very solid. I think about tomorrow – what can I do tomorrow to help my players? This is my dream. To make the right decision, create the right training session to improve them. This is my dream – to make my players better."
Such is the jovial atmosphere in Ranieri's news conferences; the journalists now design some questions to try to get a typically humorous or charismatic response.
Chris Ford from Premier League Productions asked Ranieri whether now that he has named an unchanged team in his opening two Leicester matches, he perhaps needed a new nickname. Was he no longer the 'Tinkerman'?
"No, I like the Tinkerman! It's my nickname," Ranieri asserts. "You (the journalists) gave me my nickname and I'm happy with that. If you come up with a new nickname for me, then we will have to discuss it."
Answers on a postcard please...
