Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ANDYDUNN
LEICESTER CITY owners will make a decision on the next permanent manager this week... or maybe they will leave it to the players again.
Those players claim there was no campaign to get rid of Claudio Ranieri, although performing like drains until he had been fired and then upping their game when he had gone smacks of some sort of plot.
The resurgence under Shakespeare (below) has tapered off somewhat, the 6-1 smacking by Spurs more typical of their general mediocrity this season.
If they are beaten at home by Bournemouth today, they will finish with 38 points fewer than they had, winning the title.
While it was right Ranieri took the blame, Shakespeare was also on the coaching staff during the disastrous first few months of the season.
His record as the main man is very good and he seems to have the overwhelming support of the players.
While the owners seem certain to give him the gig full-time, maybe that will set some alarm bells ringing.
Although the body of work is hardly substantial, appointing Shakespeare on the back of what he has done in the interim period is fine.
But giving it to him because the lads like him is a one-way ticket to the comfort zone.
TO discover why some female tennis players still think professional tennis is maledominated, check out Boris Becker’s defence of Ilie Nastase.
“Ilie shouldn’t be banned by the tennis community,” he tweeted. “Ilie is part of our tennis history and responsible, with others, for today’s players making a proper living.”
Nastase’s actions at a Davis Cup tie in Romania allegedly include calling Britain’s Johanna Konta a “**** ing bitch”. He also “jokingly” asked captain Anna Keothavong for her hotel room number.
If men such as Becker are proud of Nastase in the “tennis community”, the game really does need to be dragged into the 21st century.