Claudio Ranieri:

I don’t ‘do’ football, not at all.

I never understood a game where,

With at its very centre a ball,

And available, four limbs and a head,

You were limited, though it seemed bizarre ,

To just two limbs and a head instead.

Rugby was my game, four limbs,

My head, and all of me!  And rough

Though it was it gave my heart wings

Until my fractured skull … and stuff.

But last year I revelled in magic anew,

Leicester City, a wonderful place

In itself, enhanced by marvelous

Diversity and the Leicester Tigers.

Suddenly there were also Foxes!

It was all so improbable,

And wonderful. Minnows who

Overcame giants.

I followed their results avidly

And listened to that lovely man,

Mr Ranieri. Gentle and self-

Effacing, the opposite of

Most, with their teams of

Multi, multi-Millionaires.

And now this. Aiyawatt

Srivaddhanaprabha says

Long term interests

Must be put above

Personal sentiment.

Why?  They can’t have

Bought it as a business

With high expectations

Of winning the cup.

Mr Ranieri gave them a miracle and

With totally insensitive and

Unrealistic, greedy expectations

They want another and, by God,

Are so stupid that they think

Such a thing can be replicated

By firing the miracle worker.

That aside, what happened

To decency?  What happened

To thankfulness?  As Mr Liniker

Said, they shouldn’t be firing him,

They should be building statues.

And now it appears that some of

Mr Ranieri’s team wanted to

Get rid of him.  This beggars

Belief.  He made them part of

A dream they could never have

Aspired to, and he made it come

True – at odds of 5000 to 1.

This whole, tacky episode

Reminds me that football

Is not a game I wish to

Be part of my life.  It is

Greedy, tacky and without

And grace.  Fail Foxes.

It will serve you right.

Worse, win and all will

See how shallow you

Have been where it counts,

Loyalty and gratitude.