Antonio Conte is hoping all will go well for Claudio Ranieri after he came out of retirement to take charge of Roma, but only after their Serie A match this weekend.
Ranieri was tempted back into management by a return to where he started as a player. His third spell at Roma comes after the club has already fired two coaches this season and the team is twelfth in the standings.
A trip to league leaders Napoli is Ranieri's first order of business, and Conte is looking forward to meeting the 73-year-old.
“I'm happy to see Claudio, I have a lot of respect for him and there is also friendship,” Conte told reporters ahead of Sunday's match.
“I'm happy with the opportunity he's been given. It will be a tough game, for us and for them. Last year Roma finished ahead of Napoli, they are in the Europa League and had a good transfer window.
“They are not performing according to expectations and I hope for Claudio that everything will work after Sunday's match.”
The arrival of Ranieri in place of Ivan Juric not only brings the danger of the 'new manager bounce' but also disrupts Conte's plans for the game.
“When a team changes coaches, there is an important input at the nerve level,” Conte said.
“They are on the third change on the bench. Inevitably, if Juric had stayed, we would have known what kind of team we would be dealing with.
“Now it's a mystery, we don't have much information and we don't know how they will deal with us. So let's think about ourselves, there is a desire and enthusiasm to continue this path.”
After a series of 21 home wins in a row in Serie A, Conte lost his last home game (0-3 against Atalanta). Only once in his career has he recorded two home defeats in a row in the league: in November 2009, when he was in charge of Atalanta (against Juventus and Roma).
Napoli sit at the top of the table, but Conte knows it is still early, and with just two points separating the top six clubs, including Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio, it is a different title race than usual for now.
“Only 12 games have passed and there are many teams within very few points,” he said.
“We are doing well, but so are the others. There is not one team that has distanced itself from the others. Perhaps there is a bit of surprise in seeing some teams in those positions in the rankings.”
Comments