It takes a unique manager to pull off a Premier League title with Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri — with his pizza rewards and made-up words — is certainly that. So it should come as no surprise that the decor in his office is unusual to say the least.
Thanks to Gary Lineker’s Instagram, we now know that Ranieri has framed pictures of every Premier League manager in his office. This is weird. Of course, Jose Mourinho has pictures of Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez in his office, but those are on dartboards. These are nicely hung artistic black and white photographs. They convey a respect for his colleagues that they would likely find unnerving.
It makes you wonder if he uses them for some sort of pre-match voodoo ritual or if he sends pictures of him with the photos to his next opponent in order to get in their head and make them think he’s some sort of stalker. Whatever the case, it’s gotten me thinking and my picture isn’t even on his wall.
If you’re going to have framed pictures of the 20 Premier League managers on your wall, or any 20 football managers for that matter, you really couldn’t ask for better aesthetics. A matching and reasonably classy tone of black and white, a variety of sizes but all fit together in a straight line on the top and bottom. Very elegant.