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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Jake Bayliss

Claudio Ranieri has bizarre 'ice cream' response to Everton sacking Rafa Benitez

Watford boss Claudio Ranieri was left unsurprised by the news of Rafa Benitez's departure at Everton.

The Spanish coach left the Blues on Sunday, following his side’s 2-1 defeat to rock-bottom Norwich the previous day.

The result followed a poor run of form which has seen the Toffees win just one of their last 13 league games.

Having slipped down into 16th place, performances had provoked anger from supporters who had voiced their displeasure towards the manager from the stands in recent weeks.

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During the weekend’s defeat at Carrow Road, one fan, believed to be from the away end, looked to be marching towards Benitez in order to make their feelings known before being apprehended by a stewards.

However, former Leicester and Chelsea boss Ranieri has suggested that the same tactic would be considered commonplace in other countries.

"That is football. Maybe you are not used to it in England but in Italy they change managers like they buy an ice-cream. That is it,” the Italian coach remarked at his press conference on Monday.

Benitez’s dismissal means he becomes the fifth permanent Everton manager to lose his job since Roberto Martinez’s sacking in 2016.

Ranieri’s view is to be expected though, given the 70-year-old has held 22 managerial positions in his 35-year long career - including five jobs since he left Leicester in 2017.

In Watford, Ranieri may have found his ideal match too, with the club having appointed eight different managers, compared to Everton’s five, since the end of the 2015/16 season.

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