Premier League: Unhappy ending for Ranieri at Leicester
Masterminding one of the greatest upsets in sporting history wasn’t enough for Claudio Ranieri to keep his job at Leicester.
Ranieri was fired by Leicester on Thursday, nine months after the 65-year-old Italian manager guided the club to the English Premier League title at pre-season odds of 5,000-to-1.
Leicester’s Thai owners took the drastic measure with soccer’s ultimate fairytale threatening to have an unhappy ending. In a dreadful title defence, the team is one point and one place above the relegation zone and in serious danger of losing its status in the world’s most lucrative league.
“We are duty-bound to put the club’s long-term interests above all sense of personal sentiment,” Leicester vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said, “no matter how strong that might be.”
On current form, Leicester is heading for relegation with 13 games left. It hasn’t scored a goal in six league games in 2017 and has won one of its last 10 games in the league.
Ranieri was last month voted as FIFA coach of the year, and the Leicester story captured the hearts of the sporting world and beyond.
However, the values behind Leicester’s surprise success — hard work, attitude, team spirit — have disappeared as Leicester slipped closer to the bottom three in the Premier League and its star players, including Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, failed to rediscover the form of last season.