WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT LEICESTER’S DREADFUL SEASON AND SUDDEN TURNAROUND

Former Leicester captain MATT ELLIOTT “The criticism put their backs up and the atmosphere could have gone either way during the match. “There was bit of a disconnect between the players and Claudio Ranieri and whatever it was developed over a period of time. You saw ho how the team reacted – but Ranieri c couldn’t get that reaction from t them anymore. ““I was surprised by the timing. S Scoring the away goal in Sevi Sevilla was the one bright spot recently, it changed the mood and gave them a bit of hope for the return leg. “So to sack him the next day caught most people off-guard. “The vote of confidence just before suggested he would be kept on until the rest of the season, but the owners thought they were on a downward slide and it was too big a risk not to make a change.”

MARTIN KEOWN “It was a transformation in their performance. It’s between the ears – they wanted it. They might have thought they were trying under the previous manager, but they simply weren’t, compared to that performance. They were quite brilliant. “They have been vindicated – the owners – for getting rid of the manager, because of that performance. “But it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I am sure there was pizza and red wine flying somewhere wherever Ranieri was watching. He would have been kicking the television, not believing what he was seeing.” ALAN SHEARER “It didn’t need the sacking of Ranieri to tell me the players weren’t working for him. I’ve been saying yg it for the last two or three mo months. ““What I would say to the Leicester p players is, ‘If you look in the m mirror and ask yourself a q question – have I worked as hard as I could and given my manager everything?’. “I would say that, for the vast majority of that squad, the answer would be no. They could do more, I’m certain of that.”

MATT DAVIES, from the Foxes Supporters’ Trust “I’m not defending the players, but to a certain extent last night they were damned if they did or they didn’t. We now have the six-pointer against Hull on Saturday. “It was a little bit subdued at the start, but when the fans saw the players putting in that effort, they got behind the team. “The applause for Ranieri was fantastic. They didn’t do the 16th-minute tribute for him in the end – they did the 65th-minute one for his age, it was all about gratitude, not protest, honouring the man who has been a tremendous servant for Leicester. “The atmosphere was like last season again, but let’s not get carried away, we’ve still got a massive fight on our hands.” Former Leicester assistant boss STEVE WALSH “There is a variety of factors why teams don’t perform. We are talking about human beings and they all have different feelings. “Players never go out not wanting to perform – they y all want to do their best – but, for a va variety of reasons, it sometimes doesn’t happen and that applies to the best players in the world. ““They have enough talent within th the squad to retain their Premier L League status and I am sure that they will do that.”