New Roma head coach Claudio Ranieri marked his return to England with a good luck message for old club Leicester and a congratulations to Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou for producing football he loves.
Ranieri is back in a country where he has managed four teams, but is best known for being able to mastermind one of the biggest shocks in the sport when he guided Leicester to the Premier League title in 2016.
The 73-year-old had been set to retire after he led Cagliari to safety in May. However, he is back at Roma for a third spell and will take charge of his second match on Thursday night, away to Spurs in the Europa League.
Claudio Ranieri poses with the Premier League trophy
Claudio Ranieri led Leicester to a shock Premier League title win in 2016 (Nick Potts/PA)
“Tomorrow it is going to be a tough game against a very strong opponent,” Ranieri told reporters at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“They scored the four goals against Man City so they are obviously going through a good spell. They won against City, United and Aston Villa.
“This is a team who presses hard, who pushes forward. It is the kind of football I love because it gives emotions to their fans. I would like to congratulate their coach on his excellent job.”
Ranieri spent 18 months at Leicester, who sacked Steve Cooper on Sunday, and was asked if he would have returned to King Power Stadium if he had got the call before he answered Roma’s SOS earlier this month.
“When I decided to retire, I really thought I would not come back on a bench and only two teams could make me change my mind: Roma and Cagliari,” the Italian explained.
“I hoped not to come back because it would mean things were not going well for these teams. About Leicester, I am sure they will pick themselves up.
“They have got a great set of fans, a great set of board of directors and (Jamie) Vardy keeps scoring goals consistency. I am quite confident they will recover and I wish them all the best.”
Leicester’s Jamie Vardy stands next to Claudio Ranieri
Leicester’s Jamie Vardy helped Ranieri win the league (Adam Davy/PA)
Spurs boss Postecoglou paid tribute to “gentleman” Ranieri ahead of their first meeting on the touchline.
“It’s unbelievable. It just goes to show the passion he has for the game. I’m sure there are more enjoyable ways to live his life now, but he still has it in him,” Postecoglou said.
“I’ve not come across him before but I’m looking forward to saying hello. It’s always nice to meet people who’ve made a massive impact on football, particularly managers.
“He’s always come across as a gentleman. I’m looking forward to meeting him. It just goes to show that bug you have as a manager, for being on the touchline, doesn’t leave you.”
Postecoglou also reflected on Ranieri being able to lead Leicester to a stunning Premier League title win, he said: “I don’t know if it’s inspired but certainly it’s what I love about football.
“There aren’t many sports where that can happen. Such an unlikely story of a club and a manager, who had already had a really strong reputation, it comes together like that in the biggest league in the world. It’s a hell of a story.
“It’s one of those where if you saw it in a move, you’d think, ‘great movie but ahhh it’s never going to happen’. And it did.
“Everyone who lived that experience within Leicester and everyone associated with the people in there and for Claudio and his family, that’s all we crave, just to leave some sort of imprint and footprint in our careers that lasts beyond our ability to do what we do.
“He’s certainly left an enormous footprint with that season at Leicester.”