The Guardian:

“Claudio Ranieri? Really?” As much of the planet now knows, with the world’s media descending on Leicester, that was how Gary Lineker last summer received the news that the veteran Italian had been appointed to take charge of a side that narrowly escaped relegation the previous season.

Now the charming 64-year-old has masterminded perhaps the greatest fairytale in sporting history, proving a battalion of doubters wrong and winning not only the undying gratitude of all those in Leicester but admiration and no little love from around the world.

Lineker, who until Jamie Vardy burst on to the scene was Leicester’s best-loved centre-forward, was not the only one to doubt the credentials of the peripatetic Italian when he took up the 15th club managerial post of a rollercoaster career.

Harry Redknapp expressed his shock Ranieri had landed a Premier League job following a disastrous four months in charge of Greece that came to a humiliating halt with defeat by the lowly Faroe Islands.

Another former Leicester striker, Tony Cottee, said he was astonished. Beneath a sceptical Guardian blog, perhaps the politest of a slew of comments was simply: “Gone by Christmas”.

Twelve months on bookmakers are facing a £15m payout to punters, including a lucky few who backed the side at 5,000‑1, and a different sort of astonishment abounds...

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