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5 months ago
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The images toured Italy last season. Claudio Ranieri was worn by his players to celebrate Cagliari’s rise to Serie A, after the great victory against Bari in the Serie B play-off final. Back on the Sardinian bench on December 23, 2022, the native of Rome was experiencing his second stint at head of the Isolani, although he had already managed the club between 1988 and 1991. Welcomed as a hero, his first six months were a real waking dream, achieving an exemplary rise in the ranking, going from 12th to 5th place in the Italian antechamber. By pocketing a qualification ticket for the play-offs, his Cagliari team eliminated Venezia, Parma then Bari. Comforted last summer, Cagliari made small moves on the market with the arrivals of Matteo Prati, Mateusz Wieteska, Tommaso Augello, Simone Scuffet, Jakub Jankto, Ibrahim Sulemana, Andrea Petagna, Eldor Shomurodov and Pantelís Chatzidiákos. A large number of experienced players but also some young players to develop including Gaetano Oristanio, on loan from Inter Milan.
But retention is never easy for a promoted person, even with solid recruitment. From September 17, 2023 to March 16, 2024, Cagliari peered into the depths of Serie A. Over this period, the best position was 16th place but for a large part of the time spent in the red zone. But in recent weeks, it is true that everything seems to be going better thanks to the perfect management of Claudio Ranieri who knows how to find the right words: “We have to think about Serie B to remember what we did last year to get back to Serie A. Now comes a busy month. I told the boys. It was a good match, which started badly against an Atalanta team who immediately stepped on the accelerator. We responded blow for blow and we did not give up. The boys played a magnificent match and the public pushed them to the end.explained the 72-year-old Italian coach after the surprise victory (2-1) against Atalanta last weekend.
A successful winter transfer window!
During the month of January, the Sardinian management pulled out all the stops by recording solid arrivals, those of the arrival of Colombian defender Yerry Mina and the young midfielder on loan from Napoli, Gianluca Gaetano. This is what allowed Cagliari to strengthen its team cohesion according to Nicolas Viola, co-top scorer of the team: “We have to prepare as best we can and be ready. In the middle of the storm of the race to maintain, we have a helmsman (Ranieri) who already led us last season to move from Serie B to Serie A. Cagliari is a united group that works perfectly even in difficult times . With the arrival of Mina and Gaetano, we have raised the level even further”, he declared. With 12 points taken over the last seven days, everything seems to be going better for the Sardinians, who are now in 14th position in Serie A. But the hardest part remains to be done.
Indeed, the promoted of the season has a very busy schedule with big matches remaining until the end of the season, in particular against Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina over the last seven scheduled days before the end of this 2023/2024 Serie A season. But Cagliari is lucky to be able to count on a real guide on the bench: “I owe a lot to Mr. Ranieri. He immediately believed in me. I have a very close human and technical relationship. He corrects errors, advises you, helps you at any time. As you can see outside, he’s on the field. And he is a lord of football, transparent, even in his reactions, rare, strong”, analyzed Nicolas Viola in the rest of his interview. Confidence reigns within the Sardinian locker room. Despite checkered results, the players and especially the executives never let go of Claudio Ranieri.
But what will the future of the former coach of Roma, Leicester and FC Nantes hold? Now 72 years old, it is rumored in Italy that Cagliari will be Claudio Ranieri’s last adventure before a well-deserved retirement: “I always have clear ideas but the most important thing is to obtain maintenance, not for me but for all of Sardinia. I still have one year of contract. I’m okay, but until I reach my goal, I won’t be at peace. It will be the same now too, I have to stay cold and aseptic outside. I need to understand when I should make changes and when I should not. This allows me to always put people on the field who, when they enter, always give 100%”, explained the Italian coach. Under contract until June 2025, Claudio Ranieri is well on his way to achieving a new feat in his rich career…
