Sacked Leicester coach Claudio Ranieri

(Reuters) - Claudio Ranieri was sacked as Leicester City manager on Thursday with the Premier League club battling relegation. Here are some key facts about Ranieri: * EARLY LIFE: -- Born in October 1951 in Rome, he began his career as a defender with AS Roma, Catanzaro and Catania (five years in Serie A). His first coaching job was with amateur side Vigor Lamezia in 1985. * RANIERI AS COACH: -- The Italian began his managerial career with Campania before guiding Cagliari from the third division into Serie A between 1989 and 1991. His next move was to Napoli where he was unable to bring success. -- Ranieri was then appointed Fiorentina manager and led the club into Serie A in 1994, tasting Italian Cup and Super Cup glory in 1996. -- Ranieri moved to Spain with Valencia, adding the 1999 Spanish Cup to his honours list. He left to take on the onerous task of managing Atletico Madrid in mid-1999. His tenure at the troubled club was short. * CHELSEA: -- Ranieri replaced Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea in September 2000. Despite an idiosyncratic use of English, Ranieri guided Chelsea into sixth place in the league in his first season, helping them to qualify for the UEFA Cup. -- After Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over in July 2003, Ranieri suffered constant speculation over his future and described himself as a "dead man walking". Despite constantly changing his lineup, which earned him the nickname 'The Tinkerman', he steered Chelsea to second in the league, their highest finish for 49 years, and to the Champions League semi-finals where they lost to Monaco. He was sacked in May 2004. * JUVENTUS: -- He replaced Didier Deschamps in June 2007 after Juve had returned to Serie A following their demotion for match-fixing. -- A third-place finish in their first season back was widely praised and the second campaign started well with home and away wins over Real Madrid in the Champions League. Performances dropped late in the campaign though and he was replaced by Ciro Ferrara in May with a Champions League qualifying place at risk. * AS ROMA -- He took over from Luciano Spalletti early in the 2009/10 season with the club struggling and he led them on a stunning run which culminated with a runners-up spots in both Serie A and the Italian Cup. They almost piped Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan to the scudetto but for one home loss to Sampdoria. -- The following season was always going to be tough in comparison, with the indebted club in the process of being sold, and a series of poor results led to his resignation in February. * INTER MILAN -- Named Inter Milan coach in September 2011 after Gian Piero Gasperini was sacked following a poor start to the season. Ranieiri had a promising start but lasted only just over six months and was sacked following a run of two wins in 13 games and a Champions league last 16 exit to Olympique Marseille. * MONACO -- Joined Monaco in May 2012 and won the Ligue 2 championship before finishing runners-up to Paris St Germain in the top flight the following season. But despite the Italian's success his contract was not renewed and he left in May 2014. * GREECE -- Appointed Greece manager after the 2014 World Cup on a two-year contract but reverted to his 'Tinkerman' policy of making constant changes and lasted only four months. A Euro 2016 qualifying defeat at home to the Faroe Islands ended his reign. * LEICESTER CITY -- Took over as Leicester City boss on July 13, 2015 on a three-year deal with the stated aim of keeping the club up. Despite repeating that his target was 40 points and Premier League survival, he took his team of unsung heroes to their first top flight title against all the odds to stun the soccer world. -- Leicester were never expected to repeat their unlikely feat but their league form this season has slumped alarmingly, leaving them just above the relegation zone. Despite winning their Champions League group and battling to a 2-1 defeat in their last 16 first-leg tie at Sevilla, Ranieiri was sacked. (Compiled by Ken Ferris; Editing by Toby Chopra)