For a man being unveiled as Chelsea's eighth manager in 15 years Claudio Ranieri was remarkably relaxed yesterday. He smiled so often it was easy to imagine he had accepted the job without consulting the Premiership table or noticing his predecessors' heads hanging on the wall of Ken Bates' house.
But then Ranieri's last employer, Jesus Gil of Atletico Madrid, makes Bates look like a man yet to discover the P45. And why worry when you have done stints at Napoli and Fiorentina? "In Italy," Ranieri quipped, "there are eight coaches a season."
The entourage the 48-year-old has brought with him means Chelsea are employing about as many coaches now. Not long after Ranieri had sauntered off the training pitch with his two new assistants clutching cones and a cardboard box it became clear an Italian passport could be one of the few things he shares with the deposed Gianluca Vialli.
The contrast his sharp suit provided with Vialli's schoolboy jumpers was just the start. Whereas Vialli was happy to field a team without a single Englishman, Ranieri believes the title cannot be won without a backbone of English players. Vialli may have changed his side more often than some people change their socks but rotation is not in the new head coach's limited English vocabulary.
"If a player is in good form he will be in the team," Ranieri said, flanked by an interpreter and Chelsea's managing director Colin Hutchinson. "It doesn't seem right to me to drop a player when he is playing well. That is the general idea.
"It is logical that if a team plays the same 11, 12, 13 players they know how to play with each other by memory. If the team changes the players won't be able to find each other with their passes so well."
What Ranieri made of the room he was speaking in, at the training ground that Chelsea share with Imperial College, was anyone's guess. With a dartboard in one corner, a bar offering London Pride shandy for £1.40 and pictures of old rugby teams adorning the walls, it was hardly what he might associate with title pretenders.
A signed Roberto di Matteo shirt was one of the few clues to Chelsea's existence. But of course Ranieri does not pay heed to superficial stuff. Behind the easygoing manner lurks a determined, passionate disciplinarian. To him names and reputations are meaningless, as he showed by casting off Romario at Valencia.
He will demand real commitment and determination from Chelsea, and woe betide any slackers. In the games he watched against St Gallen and Leicester he found spirit and unity lacking. He goes to Old Trafford on Saturday looking at more than the result.
"In terms of quality we are probably not behind Manchester United," he said, "but in the spirit and determination of the team we are. Victory isn't important. I want to see how hard my players will fight.
"I want the fans to be proud of a team that fights until the last minute to achieve victory. I don't look at how famous players' names are. I have said this to all the players from the youth team to the reserves to the first team."
Young English players such as Jon Harley and John Terry could be forgiven for a few London Pride shandies given Ranieri's determination to use local talent. "It is the same in Italy and Spain," he said. "The backbone has to be from the country in which you are playing."
Which is not to suggest Ranieri will be rushing to sign anyone with a St George's cross on their underpants. "I will evaluate very carefully what I have in the squad and what English players there are to be bought," he said. "If there are [good enough] English players at Chelsea I will take them on."
Only three Englishmen - Dennis Wise, who retains the captaincy, Graeme le Saux and Jody Morris - were among the 10-strong group of outfield players Ranieri trained before engaging the whole squad in high-tempo three-a-sides.
The quick, one-touch passing he took them through told of a fast counter-attacking style. Ranieri's awkward shouts of "go", "better", "quality" and "stay here Wisey" explained why Di Matteo was translating and the coach will take English lessons along with his new right-hand men, his assistant Salvatore Antenucci and the goalkeeping coach Giorgio Pellizzano.
Ranieri stressed that Vialli's assistants Ray Wilkins and Graham Rix will be kept on, although "they won't be able to do exactly the same jobs they have been doing". Wilkins will be helping with translation for a start, and although Ranieri is linked with two of his former Atletico players, the Portugal midfielder Hugo Leal and Argentina's Santiago Solari, he sounds in no rush.
"I want to have a close look at what I have before uselessly spending money," he said. "A manager has to look carefully at how to react in a difficult moment and this is clearly a difficult moment."
A league position of 17th tells of that and Ranieri's ultimate aim is clear: "I have won cups [with Fiorentina and Valencia] and never a championship," he said. "I also want to win a championship."
Much of what he has seen and heard gives him hope. Morale has been low, he admits, but he sees ambition to match his own and heard only good from Vialli when they chatted a few days ago.
"He told me a lot and spoke very highly of everything: the team, the structure, everybody. He is an exceptional man, not only a great player but a good person. I don't know if he made mistakes, I don't know what the problems were, but it is difficult to be one day a team-mate and the next day a manager."
Ranieri comes without such baggage and his players know what to expect. "I am very gentle," he said, "as long as people do what I say. But if they don't .." Chelsea's underachievers have been warned.
