It was an appointment met by much scoffing and sneering.
The perception of Claudio Ranieri on English shores has never been particularly positive, so Leicester City’s decision to install the Italian as their manager following Nigel Pearson’s departure in the summer was seen by many as an act that would seal the club’s demotion back to the second tier.
Gary Lineker, the former Leicester and England striker, labelled Ranieri an “uninspired choice”, while another of the club’s ex-players, Tony Cottee, said he was “astonished” at the “huge gamble”.
Fans, too, were divided, with some heralding Ranieri’s experience but many others questioning why a coach who had recently been sacked by Greece after a dismal Euro 2016 qualifying campaign had been identified as the right man for the job at the King Power Stadium.
Four months later, the misgivings have vanished.
Leicester have won seven of their 12 Premier League matches this season, with a 5-2 reverse to Arsenal in September the only time they have been defeated.
Identified by many, at the start of the season, as a side sure to be relegated, Leicester instead find themselves just one point behind Arsene Wenger’s men and Manchester City at the top of the table.
It has been a period of redemption for Ranieri, a manager widely seen as a nearly man and perennial runner-up throughout his 29-year coaching career.
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In a sense, that reputation was always a little unfair.
Ranieri did very well at Fiorentina in the mid-1990s, before enjoying a positive spell with Valencia towards the end of the decade.
The former defender then struggled at a crisis-ridden Atletico Madrid, but deserves a great deal of credit for laying much of the foundation for the Chelsea outfit who won back-to-back league titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006.
John Terry and Frank Lampard were among those who became established members of the first team under Ranieri, who was sacked by Roman Abramovich after finishing second in the Premier League and losing to Monaco in the semi-finals of the Uefa Champions League in 2004.
Christened the “Tinkerman” by the English press for his propensity to juggle his starting XI from week to week, it could be argued in hindsight that Ranieri was actually ahead of his time in understanding the importance of squad rotation.
Subsequent stints at Juventus, Roma, Inter Milan and Monaco brought mixed success, before an admittedly disastrous few months with the Greek national team.
Ranieri, though, is due a huge amount of praise for the phenomenal work he has done at Leicester so far this term.
He has continued with the high tempo and energetic style of play laid down by predecessor Pearson, but has given the side an extra dimension in attack.
Maverick winger Riyad Mahrez is excelling under Ranieri after being in and out of the starting line-up last season, while striker Jamie Vardy — who has now scored in nine consecutive top-flight matches — is in the form of his life.
Danny Drinkwater has been quietly superb in midfield, with summer signing N’Golo Kante continuing to impress alongside him.
The team’s mentality is very much to attack first and worry about defending later: only Manchester City (26) have found the back of the net on more occasions than Leicester (25), but only five teams have leaked more goals than the 20 allowed by Leicester.
Ranieri, 64, has done brilliantly to create a side that plays to its strengths and functions well as a collective, with his charming and affable persona away from the touchline also responsible for his new admirers around the Premier League.
Three months into the season, guiding one of the favourites for relegation to third place in the table — 17 points above the drop zone and just one adrift of the summit — is no mean feat. The “uninspired choice” and “huge gamble” has turned out to be just what Leicester City needed.
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