Claudio Ranieri and his overachievements at both Leicester City and now Nantes are a constant source of fascination for the French press, and the interviews with the Italian manager are never-ending.
It’s understandable, to a certain extent, as his new side currently sit 5th in Ligue 1 after 14 games, picking up 23 points from a possible 42.
Unlike some of Leicester’s performances in their impressive march to a Premier League title, it’s not been pretty, as Nantes have only scored 13 goals and conceded 15, but it’s been efficient, and that’s all that matters.
As exemplified by his sacking from King Power Stadium back in February, football is now, more than ever, a results based game, and it’s something he understands perfectly during a chat with France Football.
Ranieri said: “That’s life. These days, club presidents spend a lot of money, they all want to win even if they’ve never won anything before, and when they do, they want to carry on winning. However, when something goes wrong somewhere, you must never develop bitterness towards it.
“The most important thing is to be at peace with yourself and then look forward, find a new challenge and bounce back elsewhere while showing your ability. It isn’t always the smallest team that loses and the biggest one that wins, and that’s what’s beautiful about football.”
Explaining that getting sacked was ‘part of the game’, the Italian manager seems entirely over his time at Leicester City, choosing to remember only the great memories he managed to provide for the Foxes during that eventful 2015-16 season.
While it seems like it’s going to be very difficult for him to repeat this feat this season with Nantes, a top half finish would certainly be a good season for Les Canaris.
And he’s well on his way to doing that.
