Claudio Ranieri does not know if his job is under threat after the Fulham fans called for his sacking at Southampton. The Cottagers slipped a perilous 10 points adrift of safety following a 2-0 loss at St Mary’s, with under-pressure manager Ranieri subject to protests from the travelling fans.
First-half goals from Saints duo Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse inflicted the London club’s seventh defeat from eight top-flight games, and the writing is on the wall. Asked about his future, Ranieri replied: “My job? I don’t know.
Ask the owner.” Chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ greeted Ranieri’s second-half substitutions, while a banner containing the words: ‘Risk free? Are you watching Tony Khan?’ was unfurled in reference to comments made by the club’s vice-chairman following the Italian’s appointment in November.
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Ranieri, who said he may speak to Fulham owner Shahid Khan on Thursday, insisted he will continue to fight for an unlikely great escape with 10 games remaining. “Something could happen. If you don’t believe, it’s done,” he said. “You have to believe. You have to fight. If you don’t fight, already you’ve lost. “Always in my career, I’m used to work hard. I know it’s very difficult but until mathematically it’s impossible we continue to fight.”
