Claudio Ranieri has been sacked by Leicester City, nine months after leading them to the Premier League title, BBC Sport reports. The Foxes are one point above the relegation zone with 13 matches left. “The board reluctantly feels that a change of leadership, while admittedly painful, is necessary in the club’s greatest interest,” read a statement.
Ranieri, 65, guided the Foxes to the title despite them being rated 5,000-1 shots at the start of the campaign. His departure comes less than 24 hours after a 2-1 defeat at Spanish side Sevilla in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. The Foxes took the Premier League title by 10 points but have won just five top-flight games this season, and could become the first defending champions to be relegated since 1938. They have lost their past five league matches and are the only side in the top four English divisions without a league goal in 2017. “His status as the most successful Leicester City manager of all time is without question,” added the statement.
“However, domestic results in the current campaign have placed the club’s Premier League status under threat.” Earlier this month, Leicester gave their “unwavering support” to the Italian. The statement said, “This has been the most difficult decision we have had to make in nearly seven years since King Power took ownership of Leicester City. But we are duty-bound to put the club’s long-term interests above all sense of personal sentiment, no matter how strong that might be.” Assistant manager Craig Shakespeare and first-team coach Mike Stowell will take charge of the squad until a new manager is appointed.
Ranieri’s compatriots Paolo Benetti and Andrea Azzalin, both key members of his coaching staff, have left the club. “The board will now begin the recruitment process and will make no further comment until that process is completed,” Leicester added.
Meanwhile, former Manchester City Manager, Roberto Mancini, is the bookmakers’ favourite to replace compatriot Claudio Ranieri as Leicester City manager after the Italian was sacked by the Premier League champions on Thursday. British bookmaker Sky Bet was offering odds of 6/4 on Mancini taking over relegation-threatened Leicester, while William Hill had the 2011-12 Premier League-winning coach at 13/8 as of 0520 GMT on Friday. Mancini, who left Inter Milan last August, won the Premier League with City in 2012. He has been clubless since then.
Former Leicester manager Nigel Pearson is second-favourite for the job, with Alan Pardew, Guus Hiddink, Neil Lennon, Frank de Boer and Gary Rowett the other leading contenders. The affable Ranieri is a hugely popular figure after leading 5,000-1 outsiders Leicester to the title last season, even though the team is currently just a point and a place above the relegation zone. In England, well-known soccer pundits were quick to criticise his dismissal, with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher calling it an “absolute joke”.
“I think a lot of people wouldn’t have wanted to see Leicester go down with Ranieri as the manager but I think a lot of that sympathy will go now,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “They were everyone’s second team but that’s well gone now… I’m devastated for him. A lot of questions have got to be asked of the owners and of the players. I think they should have a statue of him there and I think they should start that in the morning.” Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, who was sacked by Chelsea in Dec. 2015, less than a year after winning the title, posted a message of support for Ranieri on Instagram.
“Champion of England and FIFA Manager of the Year. Sacked. That’s the new football, Claudio. Keep smiling AMICO (friend). Nobody can delete the history you wrote,” said Mourinho, whose last game in charge of Chelsea ended in defeat by soon-to-be champions Leicester.
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