One of the most popular men in football has returned with Claudio Ranieri taking over Fulham – does the miracle man have what it takes to save the Cottagers?

“Dilly ding, dilly dong”, guess who’s back?

Claudio Ranieri has returned to the Premier League. Craven Cottage will be his home, as he tries another miracle in England’s top flight: avoid relegation with Fulham. For a man who won the title with Leicester City, this could seem easy. But it won’t be. Another challenge for the miracle man.

The images of Ranieri lifting the Premier League trophy in charge of Leicester City have been everywhere of late, following the sad passing of his former employer, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. A memorable season, the most unbelievable sporting achievement of recent times – at least. Ranieri returns to the Premier League after having coached the Foxes, and of course the pre-José Mourinho Chelsea. He knows what he’s doing and can keep Fulham up.

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It will be a difficult challenge, nonetheless. Fulham are currently bottom of the table, three points behind safety. In a lovely turn of events, King Claudio will visit Stamford Bridge in two rounds, before hosting his former club Leicester City in his new home. He was recently in his old fortress, the King Power Stadium, saying farewell to Vichai, but it’ll be a different encounter with his old club this time.

Ranieri has the resume to succeed with Fulham

Ranieri has plenty of experience, and knows what is needed to get results. From Chelsea, to Leicester City, his CV is full of solid managerial performances. Not many wins – although a Premier League title with Leicester is arguably more than a Champions League with the likes of Real Madrid – but many good results. He almost won the title with AS Roma, he got Juventus consistently in the top four, and the Italian did well at Fiorentina.

The ‘Tinkerman’ can get Fulham out of trouble, that’s for sure. Like at Leicester, if he can get his message across to the players, the team can work its way up the table. Ranieri will want to lock up the defence, and build on his preferred 4-4-2 system, to get a compact eleven players fighting for the ball and quickly getting dangerous on the break. With this kind of squad, like at Leicester, he’ll want to defend well and attack when the moment comes.

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If he can get in his players’ heads, he can do it. It would be a slightly less glittery miracle, but still a miracle. Fulham have started very badly, but have what it takes, with Ranieri, to keep a place in the Premier League. Ranieri will have Vichai on his side, and will fight to keep Fulham up. 

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