AND SO, ON A LOVELY early summer’s day, Claudio Ranieri climbed into his car with his wife and his dog and headed off to Italy. “I would like to know my destiny,” he said, just before he left. But he at least knows his legacy. The Chelsea players and supporters applauded him with gusto and affection. Most people, most of the time, thought he did a fine job.

Ranieri too, thinks he is beyond reproach. “When I spoke with Roman (Abramovich, at the start of the season), we didn’t speak about a trophy, just about building a team. I knew I had one chance, one year; now, I hope I have done the job very well and hope to continue.”

It seems highly improbable that he will be permitted to continue. Abramovich, Chelsea’s owner, looks to be waiting until the European Cup final before whipping out his chequebook to sign up José Mourinho, the FC Porto manager, as Ranieri’s replacement. It is extremely tempting to imagine that Abramovich will pick the manager of the team that wins that final, that he may yet tempt back Didier Deschamps, the AS Monaco manager, to Chelsea, but it seems clear Mourinho has already been selected.

And, although Ranieri has a strong case for being kept on, as Abramovich watched his club’s final game of the season, he was probably thinking that the match simply confirmed his own prejudices; that Ranieri cannot deliver the panache he wants. Leeds United were poor, they had already been confirmed as a relegated team, but Chelsea struggled to tear into them. The winning goal was splendid enough, with Frank Lampard playing a clever ball through to Glen Johnson, who in turn found the unmarked Jesper Gronkjaer at the far post. But moments of great beauty were few and far betweeen.

Neither can Abramovich have been delighted that the players emerged for their lap of honour holding spare sweatshirts rather than silverware. A banner reading “Don’t tinker with our manager” bobbed up and down as Ranieri shook hands with those in the crowd, but Abramovich is impatient for tangible glory. Ranieri knows he is in a West End farce and can see all too clearly the hilarity in the scene where, after a long, drawn out, fond and emotional farewell, the departing hero leaves through the broom cupboard door and has to re-emerge and face the hugs all over again. So does he want to come back to Stamford Bridge and say a formal goodbye to his players? “No, the finish was good,” he said.

Ranieri has been very careful all along not to be critical of his boss. But in reiterating his loyalty to Chelsea, he could only serve to paint Abramovich as a calculating wheeler-dealer. “I said a long time ago, I don’t want to listen to any offers (to manage other clubs). I don’t like to play at two tables.” Kevin Blackwell, the Leeds caretaker manager, felt himself to be in the same boat as Ranieri. “I haven ’t got a clue what the next few weeks, months, years hold,” Blackwell said. “It’s a bizarre situation. Everyone just wants to know where we go from here.”

Actually, Blackwell, who was brought to Leeds by Peter Reid, has a fairly decent grasp on what will happen to the playing staff. He expects his four or five decent players to be signed by other clubs and for another four or five to leave as they are out of contract. This leaves Leeds needing to find around a dozen new faces who will need, he says, “the right psychological profile” as they will be playing for a big club, even if it is a big club in the Coca-Cola League first division.

“We can’t look back. I think Leeds will always have a bright future because it is a big, big, club,” Blackwell said. “For the past three years it’s been unravelling. We have to parcel it back up again and move it forward as a football club. People will never know the truth about what went on behind the scenes this season.”

Ranieri probably knows quite a lot, but cannot reveal any of it. “What do you do without me?” he asked the press corps. The tale of Ranieri has been one of the highlights of the season. He has maintained quirky good humour where most would have pouted or stormed away. In the farce tradition, Ranieri’s mother has made several off-stage cameo appearances and as a Tannoy announcement interrupted Ranieri on Saturday he joked that he thought the voice was that of his mother, demanding to know why Damien Duff, her favourite star, had not played. His mother has other questions, too. But she, like the rest of us, will have to wait.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): C Cudicini 5 — M Melchiot 6, W Gallas 5, J Terry 5 (sub: R Huth, 86min), W Bridge 5 — C Makelele 5 — G Johnson 5 (sub: M Stanic, 83), F Lampard 6 (sub: A Nicolas, 90), J Cole 6, J Gronkjaer 6 — E Gudjohnsen 5. Substitutes not used: M Ambrosio, H Crespo. FORM: WDWLDL

Leeds United (4-1-4-1): S Carson 6 — F Richardson 5, M Duberry 4, L Radebe 5, I Harte 4 — D Matteo 5 — J Milner 5, S Olembe 4 (sub: N Barmby, 80), G Kelly 4, J Wilcox 5 (sub: J Pennant, 62 6) — A Smith 4. Substitutes not used: S Allaway, S McPhail, M Kilgallon. FORM: LDLLLD

Shots on target: (h) 7 (a) 0. Fouls: (h) 8 (a) 10. Offsides: (h) 6 (a) 1 Gronkjaer 20

Referee: M Dean 6. Attendance: 41,276