Ranieri is asked to explain his tactics
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Paul Smith, Chelsea's chief executive, has given a rare insight into the level of interest in team affairs at Stamford Bridge taken by the club's owner, Roman Abramovich.
Smith revealed that the Chelsea manager, Claudio Ranieri, has been instructed to give the Russian billionaire a detailed run-down on his team and their tactics before every match.
However, Smith, who will continue as the chief executive until Peter Kenyon's arrival after so-called "gardening leave" following his departure from Manchester United, stressed that Abramovich did not interfere - and retains his full confidence in the Italian.
Smith said: "Roman has full confidence in Claudio. He is getting more and more interested in the mechanics of the team and he has briefings from Claudio on the tactics. He does not interfere. He is just interested."
Smith stressed that reports which continue to link the England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, with the job at Stamford Bridge in the near future are false. He also insisted that Ranieri was not under any particular pressure to produce silverware for Chelsea this season.
"At the moment from Chelsea's perspective, Claudio is certainly the No 1 man and he has the full confidence of everybody at the club," he insisted.
However, Smith added: "There is no internal pressure for Claudio to produce that [the Premiership title] this season.
"But there is a general expectation that Chelsea will win the Premiership in the foreseeable future."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments