Ranieri’s firing was fair
LONDON. — George Graham never had to snuff out player-power.
He made sure t he s eeds of dressing-room mutiny never germinated in his football clubs.
That’s why the man who won six major trophies in his Arsenal reign plus the League Cup with Tottenham delivers a typically hard-hitting insight into the events engulfing Leicester City and their former boss, Claudio Ranieri .
“For me, there was no surprise when Claudio left the club,” said Graham. “It was a business decision, pure and simple.
“It is all very well saying it was unfair. But Ranieri was the manager when they won the league last season and yet they went into Monday night’s game against Liverpool in the bottom three. How was that allowed to happen with the same man in charge?
“If he was a CEO in charge of a company that made £5billion one year but just about broke even the next, he would be sacked. There isn’t too much difference.”
Nobody can dispute that the every Leicester player ran further and harder in Monday’s 3-1 win over the Reds.
Graham acknowledges that Ranieri did a superb job last season – but suggests he had not prepared for the inevitable reaction to that success.
“Yes, he did a great job but I think he would admit that a lot of excellent groundwork had been done before he arrived — really good players had been recruited at really low prices.
“What Leicester should have been prepared for is the reaction to winning the league and they clearly weren’t. By and large, they are the same players who won it. How come they are so far down the table? It has to be the job of the manager to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The Scot, 72, added: “I had that at Arsenal in 1989 when we won the league. Suddenly everyone lifts their game against you.
“Last season, many people wanted Leicester to win the league. Now they want their team to beat them.
“It was the same at Arsenal the sea- son after we won the league. We were a scalp and when we finished fourth the following year, it was regarded as a poor season. But I freshened things up and we won it again in 1991.
“You have to prepare and that is the job of the manager.”
Turning to player-power, Graham believes a strong manager will always be able to handle multi-millionaire footballers.
He showed his no-nonsense streak early in the his Arsenal career when he sold fans’ favourite Charlie Nicholas to Aberdeen in January 1988. When he was Leeds boss he shipped out the Elland Road goal-scoring hero Tony Yeboah.
Selling Nicholas was a massive call in his first top-flight job.
Graham said: “That was not popular but I was not there to be popular. Some people called me ruthless. I prefer to say I was professional.
“Anyway, the following season, we won the league. If you are winning, the fans accept your methods.”
Graham’s friend and rival Sir Alex Ferguson stunned Manchester United fans in 1995 by shipping out three superstars after his team finished runners-up in the Premier League and lost the FA Cup Final to Everton.
Fergie sold Paul Ince, released Mark Hughes and let Andrei Kanchelskis go to Goodison after the player and his agent, demanded the move. Graham went on: “Alex showed what can be done with strong management at United. He never let the players get the power. Neither did I.
“For all the money players earn, those strong managers are still out there. Very much so.
“One of the first things Pep Guardiola did was to move Joe Hart on. That was a big decision.
“Antonio Conte is showing he is in charge at Chelsea and clearly Jurgen Klopp has the respect of the Liverpool players. “Leicester were not prepared well enough for the demands of this season, their record proves that. And it was Claudio Ranieri’s job to make sure they were.”