Les Rouges-et-Blancs coach dismisses suggestions that he may be set to lose his job, insisting that his only concern is ensuring his side continue to pick up points
Claudio Ranieri has brushed off stories that Zinedine Zidane may replace him at Monaco, claiming he will stay at the Ligue 1 outfit.
The principality club earned a 4-1 win over Ajaccio on Saturday with a Dimitar Berbatov double and strikes from Geoffrey Kondogbia and Lucas Ocampos, while the hosts had only Gadji Tallo’s solitary effort in response.
Paris Saint-Germain will only have to overcome Sochaux on Sunday to secure the title but, despite not achieving Ligue 1 sucess, Ranieri remains confident that he will stay at Stade Louis II.
“You journalists love your many rumours!” he joked at a press conference after being asked about Zidane.
“This is a good position to take because Monaco is a great club. But no one will replace Ranieri! Ranieri will continue.
“For us, the goal was not to delay the coronation of PSG. We play every game to win. We’ve got 75 points, which is fine in my opinion, but I still want more. This is important for our pride. Especially as we’ve played without [Radamel] Falcao since November.”
Monaco are seven points behind les Parisiens with three games remaining, meaning a second successive league title is all but assured for Laurent Blanc’s men, but the Italian was encouraged by what he saw from his side.
“We were level after the first period because Ajaccio posed problems for us and played to win,” the former Chelsea and Inter coach added.
“The state of the pitch hardly helped matters. We were trying to adapt to the opponent. It was a good second half and we scored four goals. Berbatov was decisive – he is a great player.”
Monaco currently have 75 points from 35 league games, seven behind PSG who have also played a game less.