Kalema Lawrence
English premier league defending champions head coach Claudio Ranieri has been sacked , nine months after guiding the club to the first top-flight trophy in their 133-year history.Ranieri achieved the impossible by guiding a team of rejects who narrowly escaped relegation the previous season to the Premier League title in May 2016 beating odds of 5,000-1.
But with the team a place and a point above the relegation places with 13 games of the season left, Leicester decided a change was needed.
Ranieri returned to East Midlands Airport from Seville in the afternoon to be given the news by Leicester’s director of football Jon Rudkin in a ruthless move which has stunned football as much as their remarkable title win.
Earlier this month they had released a statement declaring unwavering support for Ranieri, but the 2-0 defeat against Swansea is thought to have seriously alarmed the club hierarchy and forced a swift rethink.The news was broken on MailOnline and revealed by sources in Italy before the club issued a statement at 8pm on Thursday, saying: ‘The board reluctantly feels that a change of leadership, while admittedly painful, is necessary in the club’s greatest interest.
The 65-year-old has struggled throughout a feeble title defence, bewildering players with tactics and team selection and allegedly marginalising backroom staff, but Leicester’s Thai owners are still facing severe criticism after opting to dismiss the Italian.
