Ranieri, Vardy help Leicester make stunning turnaround

LONDON — It is the sort of fairytale script that not even Hollywood writers could have thought up.

A year ago, Leicester City were bottom of the English Premier League after playing 13 matches.

Three years ago, striker James Vardy was plying his trade with non-League side Fleetwood Town.

And look at where both club and player are today.

Thanks to their 3-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday night, their eighth win of the season, Leicester are now top of the Premier League, one point ahead of nearest rivals Manchester United. It is a remarkable turnaround for a club that was winless after 13 matches last season, and barely escaped relegation in the end.

The Foxes were also thrown into uncertainty before the start of the new season when manager Nigel Pearson was sacked by the Thai consortium-owned club, a move that was believed to be linked to his son James’ role in a racist sex tape made by three Leicester reserve players in Thailand during a post-season tour.

The Leicester bosses quickly brought in Italian Claudio Ranieri, whose last stint in the EPL was in 2004 when he was in charge of Chelsea, as the new manager.

However, that appointment brought amusement all around, no thanks to Ranieri’s “Tinkerman” nickname, which was given to him for over-rotating his squad when he was at Chelsea. Many media outlets have also previously described him as a bumbling buffoon, and “delightfully dotty”.

But instead of struggling again this season, Leicester have defied the odds.

Here are some amazing stats the club have chalked up so far: They have scored in all of their competitive matches this season, including three League Cup games; they have lost only once in 13 League games — 2-5 at home to Arsenal in September; and they have scored the most number of goals — 28 — this season so far, one more than Manchester City.

And then there is the goal-scoring machine that is Vardy.

The 28-year-old equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record of scoring in 10 consecutive matches when he found the net against Newcastle. It was his 13th goal of the season, and it means that he continues to stay at the top of the scorers’ charts, four ahead of Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, who has nine.

However, it has to be noted that Van Nistelrooy’s 10-goal streak bridged the end of United’s 2002/03 title-wining season and the beginning of the 2003/2004 campaign.

This means Vardy is the first player to achieve the feat in one season. His 13 goals also equal Leicester’s record total for goals in a season, set by Tony Cottee in 1999-2000.

If Vardy does score against United, then Jimmy Dunne’s top-flight record of 12, from 1931-32, will be his next target.

Yet two years ago, Vardy was playing in the Football Conference, a tier outside of the Football League.

Small wonder then that he is feeling a bit stunned by all that has happened to him so far.

“I’m still pinching myself,” admitted Vardy, who was also called up to the England squad for their friendlies against Spain and France but had to withdraw because of injury.

But it is also clear that Vardy is remaining rooted. “At the end of the day it’s more about the three points and a clean sheet,” he said after the match. Still, he does not mind having a crack at Dunne’s record.

“We’ll get back on that training field and work on ways we can put into action to score some more goals,” he said.

Likewise, Ranieri is not allowing himself nor his team be carried away by their ascent to the top.

After saying he was very proud of his players, Ranieri said his focus was to get past the 40-point mark this season — the number of points a team normally needs to avoid relegation.

“We’re top of the League but it’s not important now. I want to see the horses at the end of the race,” he said on the club’s website. “Now is not important. What’s important for us is we have 28 fewer points to achieve our goal (of 40 points). Now we are very focused on our goal.”

Leicester will face United in a top-of-the table clash next weekend. Now, who could have ever imagined describing an EPL fixture as such?