Saturday Fulham Stuff (17/11/18)...

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Ranieri wants Fulham to fight like pirates to stay up

LONDON (Reuters) - Claudio Ranieri told Fulham to forget about miracles and fight "like pirates" to stay in the Premier League as he held his first news conference as manager of the struggling club on Friday.

The 67-year-old Italian, who took rank outsiders Leicester City to a famous 2016 title, said the immediate focus had to be plugging the West Londoners' leaky defence and securing safety.

Fulham are last in the league with five points from 12 games and a goal difference of minus 20, with 31 conceded. Only Macclesfield, bottom of League Two, have a worse goal difference in English soccer's top four divisions.

Ranieri, who has called West London home since he was Chelsea manager from 2000-04, said he watched Fulham play well but lose 2-0 to Crystal Palace in the first home game of the season.

"When I watched some matches I said this team has enough quality to be saved. Now I repeat: I need fighting spirit," he told reporters. "Quality with the fighting spirit (and) we can do a good job.

"If there is only quality, without organisation, defensive tactics, it's difficult to help the players to maintain the clean sheet.

"For me it's important to put in the brain of my players this philosophy. Play football, play well, but when you lose the ball I want to see you like pirates," he added, biting on his fingers for emphasis.

Ranieri, who was appointed on Wednesday after Fulham sacked Slavisa Jokanovic, said it was important to forget the past and focus on the future.

He expressed sympathy for Jokanovic, who played for him when Ranieri was Chelsea manager, but said change was needed when things went badly — as happened to him also at Leicester in 2017.

At Leicester Ranieri promised the players pizza when they kept clean sheets, one of many memorable soundbites during his tenure, but on Friday he said Fulham needed something more substantial — maybe burgers.

"That was a bonus, a fairytale. Forget it. Now it is important to not think about miracles," he said of his title-winning exploits at Leicester.

Ranieri recalled how he took over Parma when they were in a similar position in Serie A at the end of February 2007 and kept them up.

"Fulham conceded a lot of goals, and I am an Italian manager, and for us Italians it's important to maintain the clean sheet," he said. "When you play the defensive way, from the strikers, it's important everyone is involved."



https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-ful-ranieri/ranieri-wants-fulham-to-fight-like-pirates-to-stay-up-idUKKCN1NL254?rpc=401&;

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Claudio Ranieri: Fulham manager tells fans 'not to think about the miracle'

Premier League-winning former Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has told Fulham fans not to "think about the miracle".

The Italian is focused on leading the Cottagers to safety after succeeding Slavisa Jokanovic as manager this week.

Ranieri, who led Leicester to a shock title win in 2016, takes charge with the club bottom of the table and three points adrift of 17th place.

"There will be a lot of battles and it's important to be ready together - the club, players, fans," he said.

"Together they have to support us in a bad moment. And this is a bad moment, because Fulham is at the bottom.

"But when I took over at Parma in February they were in the same condition and we saved the team."

Parma were second from bottom in Serie A when Ranieri was appointed in 2007, and the former Chelsea boss led them to a 12th-placed finish.


Fulham are the 14th club side Ranieri has managed

Ranieri's first game in charge will see Fulham host Southampton at Craven Cottage on Saturday, 24 November.

That will be his first match as a Premier League manager since leaving Leicester in February 2017.

Reflecting on the Foxes' title success, he said: "That was a bonus, a fairytale. But it is important we don't think about the miracle. We must work hard."

Ranieri spent last season as manager of French side Nantes, and said he had watched "some" of Fulham's games this season.

"I have learned to forget what happened yesterday, I always look forward," Ranieri said.

"I watched some games and said 'this team has enough quality to be safe', but now I need a fighting spirit. Quality with fighting spirit. We can do a good job.

"If there is only quality, without organisation, defensive tactics, then it's difficult to help the players maintain a clean sheet.

"Now for me it's important to put in the brain of my players this philosophy. Play football, play well, but when you lose the ball I want to see you with an anchor, like pirates."



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46240542

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Cottage Talk Podcast: How Do The Fulham Players Fit Under New Manager Claudio Ranieri?
Take a listen to a podcast that focuses on Fulham Football Club.

In this special episode, co-host Mike Gregg shares his thoughts on the beginning of the Claudio Ranieri era. During the show he talks about what he learned from Ranieri's first press conference. After that,, he looks at the Fulham players, and where each one of them could fit under Ranieri.


You can also listen to the show by following this link...
https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2018/11/16/18098835/cottage-talk-podcast-how-do-the-fulham-players-fit-under-new-manager-claudio-ranieri

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Huddersfield Town blueprint looks the model for Claudio Ranieri at Fulham

Fighting spirit must be added to lift club in Premier League says new boss

Claudio Ranieri hinted at a Huddersfield Town blueprint to lift his new club Fulham off the foot of the Premier League.

Ranieri is thrilled to be back in the Premier League as Fulham boss and has called for fighting spirit and unified backing from the fans - sound familiar?

That's exactly what David Wagner has created at the John Smith's Stadium, and now another rival appears to be adopting the same approach in a battle for survival.

Fulham owner Shahid Khan on Wednesday sacked Slavisa Jokanovic and replaced him with the 67-year-old former Chelsea and Leicester boss.

Ranieri told a media conference on Friday: "I'm very happy to come back to a country of football. For me it's the best league in the world. I'm very happy Mr Khan called me and now we work together."

The Cottagers are bottom of the Premier League table with five points from 12 matches, having lost their last seven games in all competitions.

Italian Ranieri, who memorably led Leicester to the title in 2016, has been given a "multi-year" contract and his first match in charge is the November 24 clash with Southampton.

Ranieri, who managed Jokanovic at Chelsea when he was a player, said: "Joka was a fantastic player and also as a manager he made very good things.

"He made fantastic things here in Fulham, but that is our life, the life of the manager or coach, when something goes badly, you have to change.

"It happened to me in Leicester, not only Leicester. It's normal."

Fulham were among the Premier League's highest spenders in the summer following promotion from the Championship.

Owner Shahid Khan spent approximately £100million to bolster their squad with the likes of Jean Michael Seri - previously linked with Barcelona - Andre Schurrle, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Alfie Mawson.

Ranieri added: "Look, when I watched some matches I said this team has enough quality to be safe. And then this is quality. Now I repeat: I need fighting spirit.

"Quality with fighting spirit we can do a good job. If there is only quality, without organisation, defensive tactics, it's difficult to help the players to maintain the cleansheet.

"Now for me it's important to put in the brain of my players this philosophy. Play football, play well, but when you lose the ball I want to see you with an anchor, like pirates."

Ranieri played down suggestions of a second miracle, while expressing sympathy with the Foxes following the helicopter crash which resulted in the death of five people, including owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

"Forget what happened yesterday," Ranieri added. "That was a bonus. A fairytale I forget.

"Now it's important, don't think about the miracle. It's important there will be a lot of battles and it's important to be ready together.

"The club, the players, the fans, together. Together they have to support us in a bad moment. And this is a bad moment, because Fulham is at the bottom."

Ranieri used the incentive of pizza for Leicester to claim clean sheets.

Asked if he would use the same ploy at Fulham, he added: "I have to promise something more. Pizza is not enough now. Better everybody to McDonald's."

Ranieri had a season-long spell with Nantes in Ligue 1 after being sacked by Leicester in February 2017.

He will face two of his former clubs in his first three games, with the December 2 trip to Chelsea followed by the visit of Leicester on December 5.

He said: "I think only of Southampton. In this moment it's important. Don't think about other things, Southampton, Southampton. And then after Southampton, Chelsea."



https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/huddersfield-town-blueprint-looks-model-15426858

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Matip and Okaka on Ranieri's radar

New Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri wants Liverpool defender Joel Matip and Watford forward Stefano Okaka, according to reports.

Sorting out Fulham's leaky defence will be Ranieri's priority and The Sun reports that the Italian is keen on Liverpool's Matip in the January transfer window.

And Italian outlet TuttoMercartoWeb say Ranieri also interested in taking Okaka to Craven Cottage on an initial loan deal.

Okaka, who is very much out of favour at Watford, previously played under Ranieri at Roma.

Fulham, bottom of the Premier League, will be hoping for more magic from Ranieri, who sensationally led Leicester City to the title in 2016.

He famously rewarded his players with pizza during that season – but Fulham's players have been told to expect burgers if they turn their season around.

"Pizza is not enough now," Ranieri said at his unveiling at a press conference on Friday.

"I have to promise something more. It's better everybody to McDonald's. I look always forward. I'm an ambitious man. I believe I have good players.

"Now I have to choose players who show me fighting spirit. With quality, fighting spirit and unity, the players help each other."

He added: "Play football, play well, but when you lose the ball I want to see you with an anchor, like pirates."



http://londonfootballnews.co.uk/fulham/whites-boss-targeting-deals-for-liverpool-defender-and-watford-outcast/

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Fulham hoping Claudio Ranieri's vast experience and personal touch can harness a struggling squad's potential

What Fulham need now is the methodical organisation that Ranieri promises and the light personal touch that he brings. This team needs to learn to walk before it can try to run

Claudio Ranieri is in a hurry, but he is not in a rush. He still has 26 Premier League matches left, more than two thirds of the season, to keep his new team in the top flight.

That might not sound like a lot for a man who has to restore some order and organisation on a squad that has been an abject shambles so far this season. But what is the point in having a 30-year managerial career across five different countries if it does not give you experiences you can always fall back on? Especially when he has been in situations even worse than the one he walked into at Craven Cottage this week.

"I remember when in Parma I took a team in the same condition, at the end of February," Ranieri said in his idiosyncratic stop-start English on Friday afternoon. "I called my friends and they said, 'you are mad to go there, never, it is not possible to save this team.' And I saved the team."

There were only 16 Serie A matches left in that season when Ranieri took over a side who had only won three games all season. They were a mess and, unlike this Fulham squad, they did not have £100m of quality just waiting to be properly organised.

That is what should give Fulham fans hope for Ranieri's rescue job. There is so much potential here, in the squad that got promoted and the players that were added to it. The problem was that Slavisa Jokanovic's ambitious approach was asking too much of players who barely knew each other and a league where opponents pounce on any weakness. They were far too easy to beat, placed no value on keeping clean sheets and lost all confidence when they went behind. By the end Jokanovic was chopping and changing his team, hammering his players in public, hoping any of this would spark a response.

What Fulham need now is the methodical organisation that Ranieri promises and the light personal touch that he brings. This team needs to learn to walk before it can try to run. They need to be hard to beat before they can try to pass teams off the pitch. Ranieri has obviously diagnosed this already.


Claudio Ranieri is presented at Craven Cottage (AFP/Getty Images)

"If you see, Fulham concede a lot of goals, a lot of goals," he said. "I'm an Italian manager. For us Italians it's important to maintain the clean sheet. Because for us, when you have to play in a defensive way, and when I say defensive way, I say from the strikers, it's important that everybody is involved."

This will mean plenty of hard work on the training ground but Ranieri knows that his players will have to meet him halfway. He kept coming back to the importance of 'fighting spirit', exactly the quality that Jokanovic and the players themselves identified as lacking in this group. If they can find that within themselves then Ranieri believes there is still hope.

"I need fighting spirit," he said. "With quality and with fighting spirit we can do a good job. If there is only quality, without organisation, defensive tactics, it's difficult to help the players to maintain the clean sheet. Now for me it's important to put in the brain of my players this philosophy. Play football, play well, but when you lose the ball I want to see you like pirates."

The challenge is to do this on the constricted time-frame of a modern Premier League manager. Yes there is a transfer window in January and Shahid Khan has promised Ranieri some help. Another centre-back would still be a huge help even after the money they spent in the summer. And of course Fulham have eight more games – 24 available points – before the window reopens. Ranieri starts with a relegation six-pointer against Southampton before emotional reunions with Chelsea and Leicester City in early December.

Those famous old coaching instincts, honed in the Italian lower leagues, at Cagliari and Napoli 30 years ago, will have to kick back in quickly for Fulham to start picking up points. He joked that he has promised his players McDonalds – an apparent upgrade on pizza – if he players start winning games, and hopes to buy his first "big burger" of the season "very soon". But it will not be instant.

"It depends how they understand my philosophy," he said. "Because we have to defend all together. Attack all together. If I tell you, two weeks, everything done, no. We have to work hard. But I know I don't have time."



https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/fulham-claudio-ranieri-manager-slavisa-jokanovic-a8637981.html

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Fulham will back Ranieri in January transfer window if required

Fulham spent approximately £100million on new players in the close season, but they could invest further after appointing Claudio Ranieri.

Claudio Ranieri will be backed by Fulham in the January transfer window but he intends to give everyone a chance to prove themselves.

Ranieri was announced as the successor to Slavisa Jokanovic on Wednesday, with the team bottom of the Premier League having won just one of their 12 matches despite spending approximately £100million on new additions in the close season.

Further investment could be on the horizon, with Ranieri – a Premier League champion at Leicester City in 2015-16 – and chairman Shahid Khan having already discussed the possibility.

However, the Italian will give every player a chance to earn their place as he tries to steer Fulham towards safety.

On potential signing January signings, Ranieri said: "I spoke to the chairman about it. He told me: 'Claudio, if you need something I am here.'

"But I said I want to see the players, when you change the manager, it changes the behaviour in the dressing room. Some players didn't play well for the former manager and when there is a new manager they give more because maybe there's more feeling with the new manager and the player.

"I believe I have very good players, but they have to show me the fighting spirit.

"If I came here it is because I believe. I am mad, but I am not stupid. I think I can do this. It is not easy. It is not easy. Nothing is easy, but I believe."

Fulham have conceded a league-high 31 goals this season and Ranieri spoke about his intention to tighten up the defence.

The veteran manager rewarded his Leicester players with pizza after their first clean sheet of the 2015-16 campaign, but he has other plans for his new squad.

"I hope to pay them with a big McDonald's burger very soon," Ranieri said when asked how quickly he could turn things around.

"I don't know, it depends how they understand my philosophy because we have to defend all together and attack all together. I would like to tell you in two weeks it is done, but no.

"I know I don't have time but then it is a big battle."

At the other end of the pitch, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored five goals in his first six league appearances this season but has not struck for Fulham since.

"Look, for me Mitrovic is a fantastic striker. He needs some good balls. We have to give him balls to score goals," he said.

"I watch Mitrovic in the national team, I watch Mitrovic score goals. For us, he is a fantastic player and I wait to see him doing very good things.

"I have to choose the best fit for him, not only him, but for everybody. I have to choose the first 11."



Read more at https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/fulham-will-back-ranieri-january-transfer-window-if-required#QoUmUBVJugUuj7ex.99

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Claudio Ranieri: 'I fought for everything my whole career, now my Fulham players must do the same'


Claudio Ranieri is up for the fight at Fulham Credit: action images

The inevitable question for Claudio Ranieri, the new manager of Fulham, last of all 20 clubs in the top tier with only one victory in 12 and a goal difference of –20, was a simple one: how did he assess his chances of winning the Premier League?

Not what the usual big managerial name parachuted into a club caught in the jaws of relegation gets asked, but then this is not your usual big manager. At 67 this is the 18th appointment of Ranieri's management career, and in one particular diversion on his introduction at Craven Cottage he rhapsodised about his first job in charge of the amateurs of Vigor Lamezia. That was down in the southern province of Calabria in the mid-1980s where no-one would have noticed or cared if a young coach had fallen at the first hurdle.

Instead, 30 years on, here is Ranieri the 2016 Premier League winner, wise, flawed, admired, single-minded and back in English football to save Fulham. "I started with amateur teams," he said. "No-one gave me a gift. I have fought for everything. I am a fighter. I want my players to be fighters – that is it. It is simple."

That is the very least he will ask of them he said, as he spoke in the little press room on the Stevenage Road. Ranieri likes to say that he disregards his past immediately, littered as it is with triumphs and disasters although it is not so easy for the rest of us to disregard the 5,000-1 miracle of Leicester's title, brought home by a man of integrity and good humour.

"If I came here it's because I believe," he said. "I'm mad but I'm not stupid. I think I can do this. It's not easy. Nothing is easy but I believe." He wanted to remind us that he had saved Cagliari from relegation from the third tier of Italian football in 1988 and subsequently took them all the way to Serie A. His friends had told him he was mad to accept the Parma job in February 2007 but he did so anyway and saved them from relegation with a run of 17 points from 10 matches.

What did his friends say about Fulham? "Everybody said good choice, good club, historical club, magical club. They all said, 'Come on Claudio, you can do it'." What would be his priority? "Fulham concede a lot of goals. I'm an Italian manager. For us Italians it's important to maintain the clean sheet." Would he reward his players' first clean sheet with a pizza, as he had done at Leicester? No, he said he would take them for "a McDonald's big burger".

All this is the well-practised Ranieri persona that might make him seem like the absent-minded uncle but his success has largely been built on his relentless drilling of compliant players. It has its shelf life but the results can be extraordinary. He comes alive when he describes the demands he will make of his team, on this occasion laying his hand on the shoulder of Fulham's long-serving press officer Carmelo Mifsud and pledging to get "100 per cent" out of even him.

"If you have a very strong fighting spirit – like me – it is 100 per cent. I will kill you if you [his opponent] come here [to challenge him]. I try to improve the fighting spirit of all my players. The players must show me this – heart. They must imagine, 'Now we have our family on the pitch and we have to save our family'. I will ask them how much they want to save their family. It is clear. Very easy."

He will have just two days to prepare his full squad for the critical game against 17th-place Southampton a week on Saturday at Craven Cottage, and he is refusing to look beyond that match. Even though after that he faces his two former clubs Chelsea, on Dec 2, and then Leicester three days later at the Cottage. Then it is Old Trafford and Jose Mourinho.

Fulham spent close to £100 million this summer, signing 12 players, four of them on loan, and broke their transfer record twice. They would prefer Ranieri to work with what they have although Fulham have not ruled out more players in January. Ranieri said: "I spoke with the chairman [Shahid Khan] about it and he said, 'Claudio, if you need something then I am here'. But I said, 'Look, I want to see the players because when you change the manager, you change the air in the dressing room'."

But back to that original question, can Fulham win the Premier League? "I don't know," he said. "Now for me Southampton is important and getting 40 points. That is very important." Fulham will not need 40 points to survive this season but one thing nags: a Premier League winner yet his jobs since Leicester have been Nantes in Ligue 1 and now struggling Fulham. Does he not deserve better? "I don't know," he replied. "Ask the other chairmen. But I am happy with my career."



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/11/16/claudio-ranieri-fought-everything-whole-career-now-fulham-players/

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'I am happy with my career': Claudio Ranieri has no regrets as he plots great escape after taking over at Fulham

    New Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri insists he can spark revival at Craven Cottage
    The Italian claims he is happy with his career after assuming control at the club
    Ranieri has promised his players McDonalds if they fix their leaky defence

Old king Claudio is back and what a beautiful kind of madness he brings. He spoke for more than 40 minutes at his unveiling yesterday and by the time he was done, it was just about possible to think he could charm Fulham's slackers into some semblance of life.

That feels like a miracle right now but he is, after all, the worker of such things. That is what he does, shown over and again from Cagliari to Parma and, of course, Leicester.

Now he has to plug the leaks in one of the worst defences the Premier League has ever seen and somehow ratchet Fulham off the bottom in the next 26 games. The mystery, beyond how he might pull it off, centres on how he finds himself there at all just two years on from doing something so bafflingly magnificent at Leicester.


Claudio Ranieri is in charge at bottom club Fulham just two years after Leicester's title triumph

That should have opened different doors. Better doors, with respect to Nantes and Fulham.

So Fulham have every reason to feel like the luckiest club on earth; Ranieri would have cause to wonder why it has gone this way. He was asked about it yesterday, about why Arsenal and that calibre did not come calling.

'I don't know,' he said. 'Ask the other chairmen. But I am happy with my career.'

It was just about the only time he was stumped all afternoon and it was perhaps the most prescient observation. The rest was a procession through his quirks and phrases and chuckles, mostly honing in on the scale of his task.

'After I arrived in Parma, at the end of the February 2007, it was the same,' he said. 'I called my friends and they said: "You are mad to go there. Never. It's not possible to save this team." And I saved the team.

'In my career, I also saved Cagliari. From Serie C to Serie A. People said Cagliari are out. I love this kind of battle. That's my kind of character.

'I came here because I believe. I'm mad but not stupid. I think I can do this. It's not easy. Nothing is easy but I believe.'

When he was asked if there was enough fight in a squad worth only five points in 12 games, he took a turn for the surreal.

'If you are a very, high fighting spirit - like me - I kill you if you come here,' he said, before shuffling to face the club's press officer in the next seat. 'And maybe him (Fulham's press officer), he is a good man. He can come at 100 per cent but maybe that is my 20 per cent. I try to improve the fighting spirit of all my players.

'The players must show me this - heart. Now we have our family on the pitch.. They must think this, "Our families are on the pitch and we have to save our family". I will ask them how they want to save the family. It is clear. Very easy.'

The key will be transforming a defence that has conceded a massive 31 goals so far. 'Fulham concede a lot of goals and I'm an Italian manager,' he said. 'For us Italians it's important to maintain the clean sheet.'

At Leicester he encouraged it with promises of pizza and won the title with only 36 goals given away. In replacing Slavisa Jokanovic, his tongue-in-cheek promise was McDonald's in return for each blank.

'I hope to pay for a McDonald's big burger very soon,' he said.

Without the ball, those defenders will need to run 'like pirates', he added.. Gloriously bonkers.

If there was a single solemn moment it was in discussing the helicopter crash last month that claimed the life of Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others.

'What he did in the city with the people, with the fans, for everybody, he had a big heart,' said Ranieri.

'And when I think how many times I took the helicopter, it's unbelievable.'

It is. And so was much of what happened at the club, in which Ranieri himself was pivotal. If nothing else, it will be fun seeing if he can deliver another unexpected outcome.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6399697/Claudio-Ranieri-no-regrets-plots-great-escape-taking-Fulham.html

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Ranieri 'very interested' in Watford forward for Fulham, player has 'no intention' of staying at club

Very much forgotten at Watford, Stefano Okaka could be on the verge of bouncing back in the Premier League thanks to Claudio Ranieri.

According to TuttoMercatoWeb, the newly appointed Fulham manager is a big fan of what the Italy international has to offer, likely to provide Aleksandar Mitrovic with some competition up top.

Despite featuring for the first time in a while a couple of weeks ago for the Hornets, coming on for a 13 minute cameo against Newcastle, Okaka has 'no intention' of remaining at Vicarage Road.

As for Fulham, the idea here could be to acquire the 29-year-old on loan with a view to buy at the end of the season, with Ranieri 'very interested' in the player, knowing him from their time at Roma together.

Bought for £5.4m from Anderlecht in 2016, the Cottagers' alleged target has never managed to fully break through at Watford, regardless of who has been in charge.

Playing just 38 minutes of professional football so far this season, Okaka started just three Premier League games last season, more often than not coming off the bench.

If a chance of reviving his career comes along, he should take it.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/ranieri-interested-watford-forward-fulham-player-no-intention-staying-club/
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He didn't shine last time he played for us, 2 goals in 11 games.