Ranieri blows his sympathy chips

Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri, who had accumulated a huge pot of sympathy in his battle to save his job at Stamford Bridge, may have blown the lot in 45 minutes in Monte Carlo.

The London club's chances of reaching a first Champions League final suffered a huge setback when they conceded two late goals to 10-man Monaco and left as 3-1 losers in the first leg of the semi-final on Tuesday.

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A fan wrote on the club's official website: "I've tried, really tried, to be supportive of our manager over the past few years, but last night really was the last straw.

"I think that proves that he is just not good enough to manage at the absolute top level ... last night's team changes were an embarrassment. To say we were like headless chickens is an insult to headless chickens."

"Stinkerman," read the banner headline on the back page of Wednesday's Daily Mail paper, while the Sun tabloid splashed "Tink Bomb".

Ranieri's position at Chelsea has been under threat since Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich bought the club last year and bankrolled a spending spree of around $150 million.

But the club's clumsy and ultimately fruitless attempts to recruit England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson elicited great waves of support for Ranieri from all sections of the footballing fraternity.

Guiding the club to a strong second place in the English premier league and then eliminating English champions-elect Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League only served to strengthen the case for him to stay in the eyes of supporters.

But after Tuesday's defeat, many Chelsea fans were conceding that Ranieri may not be good enough to mould Abramovich's expensive purchases into a team to rival the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus.

Even fans on the self-described "intelligent forum" for Chelsea fans, cfc.net, were furious with the former Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia and Atletico Madrid coach.

"Ranieri's substitutions today were akin to those of a rank amateur, not someone with 30 years of experience in football," said one.

There was more bad news waiting for Ranieri when he arrived back in London as Manchester United's stealthy revival continued with a 2-0 win over Charlton on Tuesday.

The champions are now only a point behind Chelsea in third place with four matches left and the Champions League spot for next season that once looked certain for the Londoners may now be replaced by a tricky qualifying tie.

Whatever occurs in the remainder of the season, Ranieri, like many a gambler before him, looks to have left Monte Carlo a big loser.

"I am afraid if there was any doubt that (Ranieri) was going at the end of the season, they are no longer doubts, more a certainty," said another fan on cfc.net.