Kipling poem banishes Ranieri’s blues
The Chelsea coach disclosed yesterday that billionaire Russian Abramovich wanted to axe him the moment he took over last summer.
Ranieri survived then and when Blues chief executive Peter Kenyon recently held secret talks with Sven-Goran Eriksson but now admits his position is precarious.
"It could be that I lose my job at the end of the season," he told Italian newspaper Gazzeta dello Sport.
"When the ownership of a club changes, the owner has the right to change the coach. Abramovich wanted to change last July but didn't find what he was looking for."
Second-placed Chelsea take on mid-table Everton at Stamford Bridge today and then face AS Monaco in the Champions League semi-final the biggest match in the club's history in Monte Carlo on Tuesday.
The Italian yesterday spoke publicly for the first time about his plans after Chelsea, and, when asked if he wanted to stay in England, replied "yes".
He then referred to Kipling's early 20th century verse which includes the following lines: 'If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same ... you will be a man, my son'.
"The English know that Rudyard Kipling poem. I read it when I was young and I will continue in the same way," said Ranieri.
"The impostors of triumph and failure can change a man but I want to stay in the middle," he said, with the look of a man resigned to his fate.
The 52-year-old who will net a £6 million pay-off if his contract (until 2007) is broken also emphasised that the Stamford Bridge club comes first.
"I'm calm and have put everything else out of my mind," he said.
"I'm always focused on the matches. It's my personality and character and also the Italian way.
"At the end, what really counts is Chelsea and putting the club in the best possible position. It would be a great, great achievement to finish runners-up.
"Manchester United want to achieve it but so do we. They're three points behind us but have a game in hand so are really beside us.
"Finishing runners-up would show we've had character all season and it would be good for me because it would show we've built foundations at this club."
The self-deprecating Ranieri has won many friends during his time in England his favourite footballing country.
"Football is like work in Italy but it is more like enjoyment in Spain and I enjoyed managing there," he added.
"But I spoke to Gianfranco Zola before I came to England and he told me I would enjoy England more. I am in love with English football."
Eidur Gudjohnsen has been hit by an illness which is expected to rule the Icelandic forward out of tomorrow's clash with Everton.
Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron will be rested as he has suffered a muscle spasm on his return from a long-term back problem.
Claude Makelele (knee) is injured and goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini (hand) is not ready to return.
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