Leicester City sacked manager Claudio Ranieri on Thursday, just nine
months after he led the club to their first Premier League title.
Ranieri guided Leicester to the most unlikely of title wins last
season and went on to claim FIFA's Coach of the Year for the
achievement.
However, Ranieri and Leicester have struggled this season, with the
club sitting just one point and one position above the relegation zone,
having failed to score a single league goal in 2017.
Leicester still have a chance of reaching the Champions League
quarterfinals following Wednesday's 2-1 round-of-16 first-leg defeat to
Sevilla, but as the prospect of Premier League relegation would mean
losing over £100 million, the club opted to remove Ranieri ahead of
Monday's clash against Liverpool.
A Leicester statement read: "Leicester City Football Club has tonight [Thursday] parted company with its first team manager, Claudio Ranieri.
"Claudio, appointed City manager in July 2015, led the Foxes to the
greatest triumph in the club's 133-year history last season, as we were
crowned champions of England for the first time. His status as the most
successful Leicester City manager of all time is without question.
"However, domestic results in the current campaign have placed the
club's Premier League status under threat, and the board reluctantly
feels that a change of leadership, while admittedly painful, is
necessary in the club's greatest interest."
The departure of Ranieri means that four of the last five Premier
League-winning managers have left their jobs before the end of the
following season, following Roberto Mancini (2011-12 winner, sacked May
2013), Sir Alex Ferguson (2012-13 winner, retired May 2013) and Jose
Mourinho (2015-16 winner, sacked December 2015).
Leicester were favourites to be relegated upon Ranieri's appointment
in July 2015, having been involved in a relegation fight the season
before under Nigel Pearson.
However, inspired by players including Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and
N'Golo Kante, Leicester went on to challenge at the top of the table,
eventually seeing off Tottenham to the title.
But Leicester were unable to keep hold of Kante in the summer, with
the midfielder leaving for Chelsea, while Vardy and Mahrez have
struggled to replicate last season's form, contributing to Leicester's
decline.
Leicester gave Ranieri a contract extension in August and issued a vote of confidence for their manager earlier this month,
saying he had their "unwavering support," but vice chairman Aiyawatt
Srivaddhanaprabha said it was in the best interests of the club for the
65-year-old to be dismissed.
Srivaddhanaprabha 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.
"Claudio has brought outstanding qualities to his office. His skilful
management, powers of motivation and measured approach have been
reflective of the rich experience we always knew he would bring to
Leicester City. His warmth, charm and charisma have helped transform
perceptions of the club and develop its profile on a global scale. We
will forever be grateful to him for what he has helped us to achieve.
"It was never our expectation that the extraordinary feats of last
season should be replicated this season. Indeed, survival in the Premier
League was our first and only target at the start of the campaign. But
we are now faced with a fight to reach that objective and feel a change
is necessary to maximise the opportunity presented by the final 13
games."
Leicester have lost seven of their past nine games in all
competitions, with the only win in that span an FA Cup replay against
Derby County. They were dumped out of the FA Cup last weekend by
third-tier Millwall, who were reduced to 10 men, leading Ranieri hit out at his players after the game.
"I want to speak again with the players and say we have to fight
every match," Ranieri said. "Who wants to fight? Tell me. I need the
soldiers, I need the gladiators."
Assistant manager Craig Shakespeare and first-team coach Mike
Stowell, meanwhile, will take charge of the Leicester squad until a new
manager is appointed.
Ranieri's assistant and first-team coach Paolo Benetti, as well as
his first-team sport science and conditioning coach Andrea Azzalin, have
also departed with him.
1 comment:
Hello everyone i Am williams pater and i am from USA i am here to give my testimony about an herbal doctor called Dr,olu I was heartbroken because i had very small penis,not nice to satisfy a woman, i have been in so many relationship, but cut off because of my situation, i have used so many product which doctors prescribe for me, but could not offer me the help i searched for. i saw some few comments on the internet about this specialist called Dr,OLU and decided to email him on his email i saw on the internet,(drolusolutionhome@gmail.com ) so I decided to give his herbal product a try. i emailed him and he got back to me, he gave me some comforting words with his herbal product for Penis Enlargement, Within three weeks of me use it, i began to feel the enlargement, " and now it just 4 weeks of using his products my penis is about 8 inches longer, and i had to settle thing out with my ex girlfriend , i was surprised when she said that she is satisfied with my performance in bed and i now have a large penis.thanks to DR OLU for is herbal product. you can also reach him with emsil drolusolutionhome@gmail.com though is..number WHATASPP him today on this number [ +2348140654426 ]
Post a Comment