The Claudio Ranieri era in Leicester has come to an end, less than a year after Ranieri guided the Foxes to a stunning Premier League championship.
Club statement: #lcfc and Claudio Ranieri part company: https://t.co/C5qnSVxDgU pic.twitter.com/VqlHy1I6Ut
— Leicester City (@LCFC) February 23, 2017
According to the Daily Mail, the decision to sack Ranieri was made after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in the Champions League knockout stage against Sevilla. The return leg will take place on Tuesday, March 14th in Leicester.
It’s been a trying year for Ranieri and Leicester City following their Premier League title in the 2015-16 season. This season, Leicester sits 17th in the table with 21 points, just one point ahead of Hull City and the relegation zone. Leicester failed to follow up on their title-winning season with any more silverware, losing the Community Shield to Manchester United in August, getting bounced by Chelsea in their first League Cup match in September, and being eliminated from the FA Cup by Millwall of League One this past weekend.
However, Leicester did thrive in the Champions League under Ranieri in their first five matches, claiming 13 points to sin their group. A 5-0 thumping in Porto in their final group stage match led into the disappointing loss to Sevilla, putting Leicester on the brink of elimination.
The club has also not been able to have any sustained success in the Premier League this season. They haven’t won consecutive games all season, and have earned just one point from their six matches in 2017, scoring a grand total of zero goals in those six matches.
For his work with Leicester in 2016, Ranieri was named Best FIFA Men’s Coach this past January, beating out Real Madrid’s Zinedane Sidane and Portugal National Team boss Fernando Santos, among others.
Leicester will fill their managerial vacancy in an interim basis by Craig Shakespeare and Mike Stowell. The Foxes need to get some wins, as their next three matches are against top-four contender Liverpool, relegation rival Hull, and top-four contender Arsenal. Given that Leicester spent over £75 million in the two transfer windows while only getting back £44 million in transfer fees, the club desperately needs to avoid relegation due to the financial peril it could send the team into.
