O’neill rules out Leicester return and says Ranieri had ‘right’ to stay

Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’neill has ruled out leaving his job to return to Leicester City.

The Foxes are without a manager after sacking Claudio Ranieri on Thursday.

Craig Shakespeare is in caretaker charge of the first team for tonight’s home league clash with Liverpool, but various names have been mentioned as possible replacements.

Among them is O’neill, who won the League Cup in 1997 and 2000 with Leicester. But when asked about what would happen if Leicester were to contact him and gauge his interest in returning, the 64-year-old said: “I wouldn’t be going. I’m enjoying the job here [with the Republic] and we have some big games ahead.”

O’neill was then asked about the possibility of doing both jobs. “If that were the case – not talking about myself, but, in general, if someone were to do two jobs at the same time – I think there would be problems if you didn’t get the results on both sides,” he said.

Nigel Pearson, who Ranieri replaced in the summer of 2015, has been linked with a return to the post, while Roberto Mancini and Guus Hiddink have also been mentioned.

It has also been reported that a meeting between Leicester’s owners and several players led to Ranieri’s sacking – although goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and striker Jamie Vardy have denied those suggestions.

O’neill believes Ranieri’s title success had earned him the “right” to keep his job to the end of the season at least.

“He had the right, in my opinion, to see it through this season,” he said.