We did not kill Claudio KAS DENIES PLAYER POWER Legend Matt points blame at also-Ran

CLAUDIO RANIERI is as much to blame for Leicester’s fall from grace as the players are according to Matt Elliott.

The former Foxes skipper has spoken out following last week’s sacking of the Italian – just eight months after he led his rank outsiders to title glory.

Player power reportedly forced the club’s Thai owners to act and promote assistant boss Craig Shakespeare to caretaker manager.

However, Elliott believes Ranieri is also guilty for the downturn in fortunes.

Ahead of tomorrow’s home clash against Liverpool, Foxes legend Elliott said: “There are so many factors and reasons – and, just as when you are successful, there is not just one person who is the root of all that.

“Ranieri needs to take his share of accountability and certainly the players HARRY PRATT have to as well. As good as they were last year I think they have lost focus without a doubt.

“You can go back to the pre-season where there was a real hullabaloo and a bit of a procession. They were here, there and everywhere, parading around the world.

“Naturally, everyone lost a bit of focus. Did the manager have a say in that? I don’t know.

“They were suddenly higher profile but he needed to reaffirm to the players that they needed to be at the level they were last year.”

Elliott reckons Ranieri’s other major mistake was to put everything into the Champions League during the opening few months of the season. The ex-central defender, 48, added: “They concentrated on the Champions League and then tried to play catch up in the league.

“That was something Claudio admitted himself but they came unstuck because of that.” MATT FREEMAN club from the bottom of the Championship to the top.

“They are not going to let themselves be influenced by any players.

“We are footballers and we have a responsibilty to perform on the pitch and we haven’t lived up to that.

“That’s the blame we take. But anything else is completely out of our control.”

Ranieri paid an emotional return to the Foxes training ground to say his farewells yesterday and Schmeichel added: “Claudio leaving is obviously very, very sad. We achieved the impossible together and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him a n d e ve r y t h i n g h e achieved.

“I wouldn’t say there were tears but you could tell it had hurt him and it hurts the players that we haven’t performed well enough to make this carry on. “The league table doesn’t lie. We are in the position we are in because we haven’t been good enough.

“Claudio won us the league. That says it all. I have no problem with Claudio whatsoever. I have read reports about all sorts of things and I have no idea where they have come from.”