Ranieri wants medals, not money
Claudio Ranieri showed his love for Chelsea by insisting he would rather stay at Stamford Bridge and complete his rebuilding job than walk away this summer with millions of pounds in compensation from owner Roman Abramovich.
After guiding the club to its second best ever season – runners-up in the Premiership and semi-finals of the Champions League – Ranieri believes he can win trophies if he is allowed to complete his Chelsea jigsaw.
If all the speculation is to be believed, Ranieri will be axed within the next couple of weeks and replaced possibly by Porto coach Jose Mourinho.
Most people would think the Italian would be satisfied to walk away with a massive compensation package as his contract runs until 2007, but Ranieri doesn’t feel that way.
“It is not important to be rich, that won’t change my life – it will change my life if I leave Chelsea,” said Ranieri, after his team ended the season with a 1-0 win over relegated Leeds United, thanks to a 20th-minute goal from Jesper Gronkjaer.
“I would like to know my future as soon as possible but I respect my owner. I shall be a little frustrated if I am not allowed to continue here.
“When I spoke with Roman at the beginning we didn’t speak about a trophy, we just talked about building a team. If you think of the money that has been spent and think of the players at this club then you think Chelsea should win everything, but football is not like that.
“Of course I wanted to win a title but we spoke only about building and I think I have done that. The owner didn’t tell me anything but I knew I had only one year. Each season I want to add a piece of the jigsaw.”
“This is the first time in my life I don’t know what is going to happen, and I said that to the players afterwards. I said to them: ’Goodbye, I don’t know what will happen’.
“I said goodbye just in case I don’t have another opportunity – I decided to take advantage of the chance now and if I lost my job I wouldn’t want to come back to say goodbye to the players – this finish was good.
“I don’t know what is going to happen now. Now I can only pass the ball to Roman. It was important to try to do my best this season and I think I had a good chance to show what I can do. My plan was right, I have built the foundation and the spirit of the group and everything is right.
“Only an extraordinary Arsenal team finished in front of us and I think we can improve. It was a big step to try and close the gap between us and Arsenal and Manchester United and the gap has been closed.
“I feel good. It was important to work well and when the fans showed their appreciation it was because I worked well and so I am happy.”
