Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as manager of Leicester City just months after leading the club to a remarkable Premier League title triumph, the Midlands side has announced.
The Italian’s position had come under intense scrutiny this season during a slump that has left the Foxes just a point above the relegation zone.
That follows their startling title triumph, with Leicester 5,000/1 no-hopers before the start of the 2015/16 season.
“Leicester City Football Club has tonight (Thursday) parted company with its first-team manager, Claudio Ranieri,” said the statement.
“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.”
The sacking stunned the football world and brought widespread condemnation on the owners.
Players, managers and commentators expressed dismay at the move and nearly all backed Ranieri, who only last month was named FIFA’s coach of the year for scripting one of the most unbelievable stories in football.
British media aimed criticism at Leicester’s Thai owners, King Power, who said they had no choice but to oust Ranieri. The owners were “snakes”, “brutal”, “cruel”, commentators said.
“I shed a tear last night — I shed a tear for Claudio, I shed a tear for football and I shed a tear for my club,” former Leicester and England striker Gary Lineker, now a television commentator, said on BBC radio.
