Ranieri: The manager looking over his shoulder

The wheel of fortune that will decide Ranieri's future is Chelsea's position in the Premiership, so every result now is key to the Italian's job security.

But there is a growing belief that even if Chelsea are clear at the top of the table and cutting a swathe through the Champions League, it might not be enough to save him.

There is no dispute that Abramovich's signings are largely being orchestrated by the charming Israeli agent Pini Zahavi, who has the knack of getting what he wants, whether it be Juan Sebastian Veron or Peter Kenyon.

Zahavi has close friends in management, including Sven Goran Eriksson and Sir Alex Ferguson, but it would seem the favoured figure in the wings is another friend, Graeme Souness.

Zahavi is like the emperor who gives the thumbs-up or down to decide the fate of a gladiator. At the moment his thumb hovers horizontally over Ranieri.

The Chelsea boss admits that the whirlwind events in west London left him in a state of confusion as the new faces have arrived almost daily at the club's training ground. ' I've had a number of dizzy spells recently,' he said this week.

'I've never before had the chance to collect so many star players in one go. I've previously been used to balancing the books and working to develop talents for the future.'

'One fine day, a bright one for Chelsea, Mr Abramovich introduced himself to me. He told me: "Don't have any doubts - draw up a shopping list for me, and if possible I will fulfil it for you".'

He adds: 'We hit it off straightaway. He had done his homework on me and I can judge him by the way he's behaved.' That is just the way Birch felt about the new boss - and look what happened to him.

Ranieri knows his job is to make it work, to take the disparate parts and mould them into a successful unit.

'I know the hardest part is yet to come,' he admits. 'We have the pieces of the jigsaw but we still need to transform this incredible group into a team.

'If we don't, it will all be in vain, and a waste of money. I'm aware that no team has ever been changed so much. Nine or 10 of the 11 players will be new and it is more than a revolution.

'You could say that Sven Goran Eriksson and I have introduced Italian football culture to England. We've brought over tactical discipline, the sense of duty in training and attention to detail.'

Perhaps Ranieri should be careful how much credit he gives to Eriksson, the man seen taking coffee at Abramovich's home with Zahavi. Ranieri adds: 'My players must fight for a great ideal - to compete with the most famous and esteemed clubs in Europe and to keep pace with Manchester United and Arsenal at home. Big teams like Juventus, Inter, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, United and Arsenal have noble histories - but we can push them to one side.'

Not can, but must. Abramovich is not a man to settle for second best as his plunge into the transfer market, not to mention the United boardroom, has demonstrated.

Unless Ranieri really delivers, the England coach's office in Soho Square - or the Blackburn Rovers manager's office - will be his next port of call.