I suppose there’s some things in the world of football that are just a given. Refereeing inconsistencies, Steven Gerrard forgiven every sin, Arsenal counting pennies as opposed to players in the transfer market…..and Jose Mourinho in the headlines.

The former Chelsea manager just can’t help himself it seems. No matter where he is he has some sort of compulsion to surround himself in controversy and not for the first time, he’s made it personal. Despite Mourinho’s previous claim that “Ranieri has the mentality of someone who doesn’t need to win. He is almost 70 years old. He has won a Supercup and another small trophy and he is too old to change his mentality. He’s old and he hasn’t won anything”, going into the final day of Serie A this weekend, Chelsea’s former Tinkerman sits just two points behind our former ‘Special One’. Needless to say, through clenched teeth and buttocks, Mourinho remarked that Roma could give Siena a bung to beat Inter on the final day – and faces a disciplinary hearing for his trouble.

As affable as ever, Ranieri just shrugged it off but sticking to his usual defensive stance in response to Ranieri’s suggestion that the media are responsible for TSO’s aura, Mourinho states “I never said I was a phenomenon, but it’s certainly not my fault if, in 2004 after coming to Chelsea and asking why Ranieri was replaced, I was told they wanted to win and it was never going to happen with him. It is really not my fault if he was considered a loser at Chelsea.”

Could Ranieri really be considered ‘a loser’ though? Well, having had a look at Avram Grant’s time at Chelsea, let’s have a look what Ranieri did for us.

For a start, just a year after his arrival, Ranieri brought Frank Lampard and William Gallas in – so he clearly knew a good signing when he saw one. It was also Ranieri who nurtured players like John Terry and Carlton Cole. The 2001-02 season saw him get us to the FA Cup final (losing to Arsenal) qualifying for the Champions League the following season.

When Roman and the money came, it was Ranieri who brought in players like Damien Duff, Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge, Claude Makelele and Petr Cech. That season we had our best league placing in 49 years, second only to Arsenal’s unbeaten ‘invisibles’ and our first ever European Cup semi-final (something Mourinho was unable to better). So clearly, the side Ranieri put together was more than capable of winning a title – which they duly went on to do following his departure.

But was it Mourinho’s ‘aura’ or simply the side Ranieri put together that saw our first title for 50 years? Interestingly enough, TheRepublikofMancunia recently ran an article on Mourinho and if you have a look at the statistics, you can’t argue the influence of Ranieri in our title winning seasons:

’05, 63% of the appearances were made by Ranieri players, 29% by Mourinho’s. Final position, 1st on 95 points.

’06, 60% of the appearances were made by Ranieri players, 33% by Mourinho’s. Final position, 1st on 91 points.

07, 38% of the appearances were made by Ranieri players, 62% by Mourinho’s. Final position 2nd on 83 points.

Taking it from the statistics then, the more of Ranieri’s players Mourinho replaced with his own choice, the worse we did. Even more interesting, if you look at the statistics at Inter Milan, in Mourinho’s first season there they had a lower points total than the season before and those points have reduced still further this season. So, irrespective of what happens in Serie A this weekend, I definitely don’t go along with Mourinho’s perception of Claudio Ranieri as a loser.

Filed under: Managers, Rants