Plot thickens as Ranieri rotates his books

Let's face it, you can understand Claudio Ranieri not minding being labelled the 'Tinkerman'. After all, he's only the letter H away from something altogether more cerebral.

Tomorrow his Chelsea team are at home to Manchester City and the emperor of rotation will be at it again. A growing pastime down at Stamford Bridge over the past few weeks has been sweeps among the punters on who will be in Ranieri's line-up for the next match.

There were a few sweeps for the match against Lazio on Wednesday, for example, but it is a safe bet not too many people predicted a strikeforce of Eidur Gudjohnsen and Adrian Mutu.

Ranieri loves to keep everyone guessing and with the quantity of players at his disposal, it's not that difficult. Rotation is a rewarding exercise. So rewarding, in fact, that the amenable Italian is even rotating his books! "Yes, yes," he confirmed with a laugh, "I am reading three books at the moment. You could say that Claudio rotates also the books.

"I do not have much time for relaxation but when I can, I like to read. The books are in Italian because by the time I come home late at the end of the day, I am very tired and it is difficult to learn English."

So what are the books in Ranieri's rotation library? "The first is by an Italian journalist named Beppe Severgnini," said Ranieri. "The title is Inglesi and it is all about the English, what makes them tick.