Claudio Ranieri appointed as new Roma head coach

Just eight days after being sacked by Fulham, Claudio Ranieri is back in management for a second stint at Italian giants Roma signing a contract with the club until the end of the season.

Roma sacked their previous manager, Eusebio Di Francesco on Thursday after the club crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Porto, losing in the 117 minute after Alex Telles scored the penalty which sent the Portugese side into the quarter-final.

Ranieri was more than happy to come back to manage the talented Roma side. He said:

“I’m delighted to be coming back home.” “When Roma call you, it’s impossible to say no.”

Last time Ranieri was at the helm, he managed the side for 18 months from 2009-2011. He steered Roma to a second-placed finish in Serie A in his first season in charge narrowly missing the title by two points to Inter Milan.

Ranieri has got a job on his hands to get Roma into the top four in Serie A, so that they can return to Champions League football. Roma currently sit in fifth place and are three points behind Inter Milan and four points behind third place AC Milan. With 12 games left in the league and Roma being out of every possible competition will Ranieri be able to get the Roma side to play like they did against the likes of Barcelona and Liverpool last year where they narrowly missed the final. One man that is confident of that is Roma director and club legend Francesco Totti. He quoted:

“Claudio’s from the city, he’s a Roma fan but more than that, he’s one of the most experienced coaches in world football.”

“What we need now is a safe pair of hands to guide us back into the top four and ensure that we are playing Champions League football again next season. We have 12 games left and we need to win as many of them as possible.”