Foxes hunt big name
Leicester bring down curtain on Shakespeare
Leicester City have no immediate replacement for Craig Shakespeare, and will now embark on a mid-season search to find a high-profile successor to the former assistant, who was sacked yesterday just seven months after first being put in charge of the 2016 Premier League champions.
The club’s owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, is understood to want a big name from outside the remaining staff, although Carlo Ancelotti, the leading out-of-work candidate in European football, is thought to have designs on a bigger job – possibly even Arsenal, if and when Arsene Wenger steps down.
The prospect of a return to management for Sam Allardyce cannot be discounted.
The likes of David Wagner, Sean Dyche and Marco Silva would all fit the bill of coaches proven in the English game to varying degrees, but would be very hard to appoint mid-contract and mid-season from a Premier League rival.
Leicester will not be bringing back Nigel Pearson, recently appointed by the Srivaddhanaprabha family as manager of their Belgian second-tier club Oud-heverlee
Leuven.
While the sacking of Claudio Ranieri in February was regarded as a necessary step to save the previous season’s title-winners from tailspinning towards relegation, the dismissal of Shakespeare just eight games into the season has hinted at problems behind the scenes. He was given the job on a permanent basis only in June and was summoned to see the director of football, Jon Rudkin, yesterday afternoon, following a trainingground practice match.
The two men are understood to have had a difficult relationship, although it will have been Vichai who made the final call, having listened to the opinion of key staff, including Rudkin.
Shakespeare was at the training ground having earlier been in charge of a side of largely under-23s and fringe players in an 11.30am kick-off friendly behind closed doors against a Nottingham Forest team.
He was told that he had been relieved of his duties with most of the first-team players not at the training ground, following the 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at the King Power Stadium the previous night. The players were not informed by the club and learned of Shakespeare’s sacking when the story broke on a news website.
The former Leicester City striker and England international, Gary Lineker, was scathing about his hometown club. Having condemned the sacking of Ranieri in February, Lineker responded to Shakespeare’s dismissal by tweeting: “Was always a miracle, but it’s even more remarkable really that Leicester won the league, given the ineptitude of those that run the club.”
Shakespeare’s assistant, Michael Appleton, the former Oxford United manager who joined in the summer, is still in place and will take the team against Swansea on Saturday, along with coaches Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler. Shakespeare was popular among players and went on a fine run of six wins when he took over last season, including the second-leg victory over Sevilla in the Champions League.
Many around Leicester feel that it has been in recruitment – Rudkin’s remit – that the club have struggled since their title success in 2016. The disastrous failure to ratify Adrien Silva’s £22 million signing from Sporting Lisbon in time for the deadline by a margin of 14 seconds at the end of the transfer window in August has left the midfielder ineligible until January.
As well as the Silva debacle, there have been large amounts spent on the likes of Islam Slimani, Vicente Iborra and Ahmed Musa, although precious little improvement in the overall quality of the squad. Losing Danny Drinkwater to Chelsea and then failing to get the Silva deal over the line has hit Leicester hard.
Shakespeare had just one win in the league this season and the club are in the relegation zone.
In a statement on the club website, Vichai’s son Aiyawatt – also known as Top – said: “Craig has been a great servant to Leicester City. His dedication to the club and to his work has been absolute. However, the board feels that, regrettably, a change is necessary to keep the club moving forward.”