A Hoad off my mind with KM Group reporter Alex Hoad - Why Claudio Ranieri should retire and Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez should leave Leicester
Published: 13:50, 04 May 2016
Well the (fairy)dust is settling on the most incredible achievement in sporting history, and, mercifully, attention is already beginning to turn to next season.
Yes, sorry, this is about Leicester, hopefully for the last time, too. I can’t moan about them for months and then ignore the moment their dream becomes reality.
So congratulations Leicester, the Premier League table does not lie, the team who had the best results are the champions.
Personally, I think Claudio Ranieri should retire next week. How on earth does it get any better than this? How can his stock climb any higher? How many sportspeople get to go out at the very top?
How would people look back at Leicester City’s accomplishments if he leads them to a 10th-placed finish next season? – his new target, by-the-by. Surely that would diminish this year’s incredible accomplishment.
What if the Foxes were fourth-bottom at Christmas? Would people start calling for his head? Football fans are notoriously fickle after all.
No, if I was Claudio, then I’d pack my bags, head home, live in luxury, smile every time my name is linked with a massive job and then maybe come out of retirement to lead Italy at a World Cup in 2022 or something.
By the same token, if I was Jamie Vardy, or Riyad Mahrez, or N’Golo Kante – who has local links as he used to play for Boulogne which is closer to Folkestone than Maidstone – then I’d be out of that door before you can say FFP.
Vardy is 29. He is in the form of his life. He’s about to go to the Euros with England and will probably play. If he’s ever getting a big move, then it’s right now. He should go to an Everton or West Ham for 130k a week for three or four years. With all due respect, bigger clubs than Leicester.
Kasper Schmeichel, too. He’s 29. Wouldn’t it be amazing if he replaced David De Gea at Old Trafford? Mahrez could easily get a move to a Liverpool or Chelsea, he could play his Champions League football surrounded by players of similar talent to him.
Kante could probably pick his next club. I can’t think of a single team in Europe that wouldn’t want him roving around their midfield.
They and we need to accept this for what it is. An incredible story. A true one-off. One which can never be repeated, by anyone, let alone themselves, the very next year.
By the way, poor old Mark Selby, the World No.1 became world snooker champion for the second time in three years on Monday but he didn’t even make the back page of his local paper.
The Leicester cueman is, however, hoping to join the open top bus parade of his beloved Foxes having secured his victory over Ding Junhui some 11 minutes after Tottenham’s challenge ended with a 2-2 draw in the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
While on the subject of snooker, Steve Davis, the six-time world champion, hung up his cue last month, some 19 years after his last win in a major tournament. Maybe Claudio should ask him whether he wishes he’d gone out on top or after scrabbling round qualifying events in empty function rooms for more than a decade.
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Alex Hoad