Ranieri: My anger over Jose talks

Claudio Ranieri today said moves to replace him with Jose Mourinho last season wrecked Chelsea's Champions League dream.

The former Stamford Bridge manager claimed his anger at discovering talks had started with the Portuguese's agent led to mistakes in the semi-final against Monaco. Chelsea effectively threw away the tie in the first-leg when, at 1-1 against a side reduced to 10 men, Ranieri tinkered with the team and their tactics.

They lost 3-1 and could only manage a 2-2 draw at home. The Italian accepted he made mistakes at the time, but said Chelsea's decisionmakers must share the blame.

Ranieri said: "It came to my knowledge that while we had been preparing for the Monte Carlo match, Chelsea had a meeting with representatives of Mourinho.

"I had put up with a lot but this was really hard to take. It showed a lack of respect not just for me but for the players and the effort we were putting in." Ranieri, in his forthcoming book Proud Man Walking, claimed Chelsea started talks with Mourinho's agent the night before the first-leg and added: "I let myself be affected by anger over the meeting and wanted the win as a way of retaliating.

"Respect for the opposition, the chance to take advantage of their misfortune and the events of the night before combined to influence my judgement."

The Chelsea talks contributed to Ranieri's departure a few weeks after the second leg in May and he is now in charge at Valencia.

Mourinho then moved from Porto, who won last season's European Cup, to take his place at Chelsea in June.