Claudio Ranieri doesn't trust bookies over England job

Omnisports

September 28, 2016 10:14 AM

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri laughed off the prospect of becoming England manager after steering his side to a win over Porto.

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Claudio Ranieri playfully resumed his ribbing of bookmakers when told he was named in the betting to replace Sam Allardyce as England manager.

Ranieri was speaking at a news conference following Leicester's 1-0 Champions League Group G win over Porto at the King Power Stadium, a game that kicked off amid confirmation by the Football Association (FA) that Allardyce's 67-day tenure had been terminated on the back of a damning undercover investigation by the Daily Telegraph.

Last season, when Leicester were first listed as title favourites on their remarkable run to becoming Premier League champions, Ranieri joked he did not trust bookmakers as they made him favourite to be sacked at the start of the campaign.

When told he was listed as in the running to take charge of the Three Lions, the Italian replied: "The bookmakers? You know I have not a good relationship with the bookmakers!"

On the win over Porto that leaves Leicester as group leaders with two wins from as many games, Ranieri was pleased to see his men bounce back from the 4-1 weekend reverse at Manchester United, while crediting the link between Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez and his compatriot and match-winner Islam Slimani.

"We suffered in the last 10 minutes but it was important to win," he said.

"The concentration was high, we were resilient – I'm very happy.

"We played with our spirit. The last pass wasn't always there but Riyad made one fantastic pass for Slimani."

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