Claudio Ranieri has decided to leave Cagliari and call time on his career as a football manager. He will be in the Rossoblu‘s dugout one last time on Thursday as Cagliari receive Fiorentina at the Unipol Domus in the season finale. The coach announced his farewell via an emotional video appearing on the club’s social media.
Ranieri capped his one-year-and-a-half experience in Cagliari as he led the Islanders to salvaging their Serie A status on Sunday. He took charge of the club in January 2023 and gained an immediate promotion to the top-flight.
“After the promotion to Serie A, which maybe we didn’t expect it would happen so quickly when I joined in January, and now this survival from relegation, I feel to leave now is the right thing to do,” Ranieri said in his farewell message.
This was the second stint in Cagliari for the Roman-born gaffer. Cagliari was the first important job in his managerial career as he held the reins of the Rossoblu between 1988 and 1991, with the club fumbling in third division Serie C1. He achieved back-to-back promotions to reach Serie A, then managed to save the club one first time.
Ranieri still had one year left on his contract. “Now let me get some time to rest,” he had replied to those asking him whether he would continue coaching right after last Sunday’s triumph in Sassuolo. His pondering resulted in the decision to call time on a 38-year-long career that culminated in one of the greatest Cinderella stories in modern football – Leicester winning the Premier League in the 2015/16 season.
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