Players met four times with the owners to get Claudio axed

The people I represent understand it is a very fragile, very volatile industry and as we have seen with Claudio (Ranieri) it is brutal at times. Richard Bevan

LONDON: Treacherous Leicester players met four times with the owners to get Claudio Ranieri axed.

SunSport can reveal the turncoats’ first meeting with director of football Jon Rudkin was in December.

Incredibly, Ranieri lost the respect of the dressing room after a run of damaging defeats starting on the first day of the season at Hull.

Stars including skipper Wes Morgan, Kasper Schmeichel and Jamie Vardy are all known to have been consulted over Leicester’s slide down the table.

Ranieri was dismissed at a hotel at East Midlands Airport shortly after arriving back from Wednesday’s Champions League tie in Seville.

It is understood the decision to axe him was taken before their 2-1 defeat to the Spaniards.

Ranieri was blasted by players for his tactics and his manner was also criticised during a series of fiery meetings.

The eccentric Italian, who led the Foxes to the title last season, had a series of run-ins with senior stars in his final months at Leicester.

And it was notable not a single player took to social media to offer thanks in the first 24 hours after his exit.

League Managers Association (LMA) chief Richard Bevan said: “The people I represent understand it is a very fragile, very volatile industry and as we have seen with Claudio it is brutal at times.”

Sources in Italy said Roberto Mancini had no interest in replacing Ranieri. — The Sun, London