Soccer: Ranieri’s future on the line

RAY LEWINGTON cannot help feeling sorry for Chelsea’s Claudio Ranieri – but he insists the pressure is greater managing a club like Watford.

Defeat for Chelsea in the FA Cup third-round tie between the sides at Vicarage Road would once again put Ranieri’s future in doubt, with England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson reportedly lined up to replace him.

But Lewington reckons the Italian would know real pressure if he had to cope with running a club kept alive only because its players and staff are deferring 12% of their wages.