CLAUDIO RANIERI REVEALED on Monday he had been “terribly shaken” by the death of Leicester City boss Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
Ranieri, 66, was hired by Vichai in 2015 and led Leicester to their historic Premier League title success the following year.
Billionaire Vichai, 60, died along with four others when his helicopter plummeted into a car park outside the King Power stadium shortly after his side’s 1-1 draw with West Ham on Saturday.
“I was terribly shaken by the news,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia in his first public reaction since the tragedy.
He was a good man and always had a positive word for everyone. His positivity and ability to make everybody love him was clear for all to see. He came into the locker room only to dispense kind words, never to reproach you.
“One time soon after my birthday, he arrived in the locker room with a huge cake and made everyone sing ‘Happy Birthday.’
“He was an illuminated man and everything he touched became better.”
Ranieri said it was now up to Vichai’s son “who has always been in love with football” to carry on in his father’s footsteps.
He recalled his first meeting with Vichai.
“I immediately thought he was a positive person, full of energy. My objective when I arrived at Leicester was to secure Premier League safety, then we all know what happened.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha made a very important contribution to the Premier League victory, as he’d arrive 30 minutes before the game to embrace everyone. He never said a word out of turn, was always happy with a smile on his face.
“I am so sad right now, I want to join the family in their grief.”
After Ranieri was sacked by Leicester in February 2017 he took charge of French Ligue 1 side Nantes for the 2017-2018 season.
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6 goals from midfield in a relegated team is impressive. He needs to get back to Celtic and push for a starting place, tough competition there.
Good experience for him with the international set up though.
@Bert Carolan: we all know the track record on Irish players in Celtic think he’s far better to get out of there. As a player he seems to tick a lot of boxes as a solid midfielder so with a bit of luck he can make the step up at international level, attract a bit of interest and secure a transfer to a bigger club like Ogbene did.
@Aprior: The track record for Irish players might not be great at Celtic but a lot of Irish players go there, obviously there is going to be a lot of failures. You’re going to have a few Johnny Kenny’s for every Liam scales.
Utd and Pool combined have only Kelleher come through in last 10 years. Probably some Irish lads go to Celtic when they should go to a lower profile club.
@Aprior: He’ll surely get his chance preseason, best of luck to him anyway.
@Aprior: I disagree with this comment. Look at the season just had by Liam Scales and Adam Idah. I also hope Celtic fork out the required amount and sign Idah permanently or else he can return to Norwich reserves and you can continue your narrative about the Irish at Celtic. Nobody has the divine right to a jersey, that has to be earned. It also must be remembered that prior to this Lawal was seen as a defender, an average one it was a recent conversion at Fleetwood to his original position of CDM has brought the best out of him. A position both Celtic and Ireland need depth in.
Hopefully he gets a run out tomorrow night. A future star can play as a defender or a midfielder very comfortable on the ball. Best of luck Bosun.
Got to expect Jake O Brien to get a game or 2 he’s out in form Centre back we have