Claudio Ranieri is back in football after French Professional Football League gave Nantes permission to sign him as their new coach. Despite of his age (65), the LFP has granted the derogation to Nantes which their new club after the precipitous departure of Sergio Conceicao to Porto.
It was pretty good season for Nantes. They finished seventh last season, their highest Ligue 1 placing since coming sixth in 2003/02 season. However, it was not quite enough reach entry to the Europa League.
This decision was very doubtful, since the diretor general of the LFP, Didier Quillot, had previously indicated that coaches aged 65 or over cannot be employed by league clubs.
“Ranieri is a great coach,” Quillot said. “His arrival in the French championship is good for the show. It’s good for the picture when there are coaches with such a winning record.” he added.
In an interview with Sport, Ranieri expressed his enthusiasm for the idea of coaching Nantes. He also tackled Raymond Domenech.
“It’s on track but it’s not yet official. I have not yet signed but we agree with the president,” Ranieri said to Sport. “I do my job with ion, seriousness and professionalism, what others say do not interest me, so what Domenech says it always been bizarre.
Ranieri has already worked his files, and made a global point on his new club. “The FC Nantes project conviced me. There is a very strong training center, from which players like Desailly or Deschamps have come out, there are a lot of young people of quality and the president has a lot of enthusiasm.
“At mid-season, the team was in the last positions, and thanks to Conceicao, they came at seventh. That means that there is way to do a good job.” the Italian added.
Claudio Ranieri lifts the Premier League trophy with his men in 2015/16 season. (Source:www.mirror.co.uk)
Elected coach of the year 2016 by the FIFA, Ranieri, who was sacked less than a season after leading Leicester City to a Premier League, former his club being threatened by relegation. He will now have second experience in Ligue 1. He has contributed AS Monaco to the Ligue 1 in 2012/13 season before bring Monaco to second place behind PSG in 2013/14 season.
