Cagliari announce return of veteran manager Claudio Ranieri with dilly-ding, dilly-dong line |

Cagliari announced the reappointment of Claudio Ranieri with a Tweet referencing his famous ‘dilly-ding, dilly-dong’ quote from his time at Leicester.

The Italian rejoins Cagliari as head coach on a contract until June 2025, his 23rd job in football management, the Serie B club announced on Friday 31 years after he left the role.

The news was confirmed by the side on social media via a picture of a giant bell, with the words ‘dilidin’ and ‘dilidon’ on, before a tweet reading: ‘A thirty-year wait. Welcome home, Mister’ was posted.

When in charge of the Foxes, Ranieri explained to reporters how he used the phrase to help his players ‘wake up’ when they lost concentration.

He went onto admit he bought players a bell as ‘a little joke’ on Christmas in reference to the line.

The 71-year-old Italian is best known in England for guiding Leicester to a fairytale Premier League title in 2016, but he failed to work his magic at Watford as they earned only seven points in three months before he left the job in January.

Ranieiri, who has also managed several clubs in Italy including Juventus, AS Roma and Inter Milan as well as teams in Spain and France, takes over a Cagliari side who are in 14th place in the second tier after being relegated last season.

The Italian made his name as a manager at Cagliari, leading the club to successive promotions from the third division to Serie A after taking charge in 1988.

He had teased a possible return, with the veteran coach admitting his close ties to the Sardinian side.

‘If I’m ready to go back on a bench in 2023?’ Ranieri said. ‘But I’m already ready in 2022, why do we have to wait for the new year?

‘My birth took place there, I always carry it in my heart.’