Ranieri is overcome with emotion as he cries tears of pride and relief on the pitch

Bless his cotton socks.

For many there are three main reasons for wanting Leicester City to win the Premier League crown this season:

1. They are far more preferable to the other viable options, who have many more natural enemies as far as rival fans go;
2. They have played with a verve and style that has been a breath of fresh air for most neutrals;
3. Claudio Ranieri.

The Italian manager has gone from 'Tinker man' in the psyche of most football supporters to everyone's cheery uncle. He has refused to take himself or his team's aspirations too seriously in public, and remained jovial throughout. But he is clearly the brilliant architect of something unprecedented in modern English football, and there is no doubting his passion for the game and his club. That all came gushing to surface after Leicester beat Sunderland 2-0 in a hard-fought victory. Ranieri was shown getting quite teary and emotional as the teams left the Stadium of Light pitch, and few can begrudge him such a visible show of relief and pride. He's almost there...

Claudio Ranieri is having a little cry. Who can blame him. Incredible stuff. pic.twitter.com/qNWQZ3jCyZ

— Christian Machowski (@Christian_ESEM) April 10, 2016