Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is the manager of Premier League club Fulham. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in Italy during the late 1980s, and made his name at Cagliari, whom he took from Serie C1 up to Serie A in successive seasons. He later went on to manage Napoli, where he led the team to qualify for the UEFA Cup, only to be sacked the following season. In 1993, he joined Fiorentina, and immediately led them to Serie A promotion, also winning
Claudio Ranieri 2–2 draw, a result which ultimately awarded Ranieri his first ever Premier League title. Ranieri first signed as a professional football player with Roma, though in his two seasons with the club he only made six appearances; he also had a one-month loan spell with Siracusa. As a player, Ranieri spent most of his career playing as a defender for Catanzaro (1974–1982), Catania (1982–1984), and Palermo (1984–1986). He was involved in four successful promotion campaigns (two with Catanzaro and one each with Catania and Palermo). After initially coaching amateur side Vigor Lamezia, Ranieri's first managerial position was at Campania Puteolana,