Ranieri sacked just 9 months after
Prem success.
When Leicester City sacked Nigel Pearson and replaced him
with Italian Claudio Ranieri many fans raised an eyebrow. Yes, he had managed
some of the biggest and richest, most glamourous clubs in the world; Napoli, Fiorentina,
Athletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Monaco, but he had also been dismissed
from a series of failed reigns, including a spell in charge of the Greek
national side, where his team lost to the Faroe Islands.
In 2003 as Chelsea manager, he spent £120million on players
including Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo, yet finished runners up to
Arsenal. During his time at Monaco,
Raneiri took the French outfit to the Ligue 2 title for the first time in the
clubs history. The following year his team finished runners up to PSG but his
contract was not renewed.
In July2014 Rome born Ranieri took over as Greece manager on
a 2 year, 1.6m euro deal. He lasted just
4 games before been relieved of his duties following the humiliation of losing
to the Faroes. So when in July ’15 he took over at the midlands club Marcus
Christenson of the Guardian called his appointment baffling. The man he
replaced, former Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough defender Nigel Pearson
had taken the club from 12th in the Championship to the Premier
league but was sacked after a series of bazaar incidents including calling a
journalist an Ostrich and grabbing an oppositions player by the throat during a
game.
Ranieri inherited a
team Pearson had put together, narrowly avoiding relegation under Pearson after
putting together an impressive run the season before, the bookies gave generous
odds of 500-1 on premier league success. To put that into perspective, the odds
currently being offered on non-league Lincoln City winning the FA Cup this
season are currently 250-1. Despite the doubters and the odds being heavily
against Leicester they went on to win the Premier league by 10 points in an
amazing season that saw the Foxes qualify for the Uefa Champions League for the
first time.
Their 2-1 defeat in that competition to Sevilla on Tuesday
night, just 9 months after winning the Premier league was Ranieri’s last game
in charge. Tonight he was sacked with Leicester 1 point above the drop zone
with just 21 points from 25 games and apparently in free fall. Early favourites
for the job are former Palace manager Alan Pardew and the man that took the
team to the Premiership Nigel Pearson.
Former Leicester striker and Match of the day pundit Gary
Linaker, who famously said he would present the show in his pants if they won
the title, said “after all Claudio has done for the club, to sack him now is
inexplicable, unforgivable and gut wrenching”.
The Daily Mirror are claiming that it was the players who
knifed their manager the back after complaining to the board but Match of the
day presenter Ian wright tweeted “wonder how I’d feel if I was a Leicester player
right now – could I have done more?”
Alan Shearer posted “wow. Staggering” on his twitter page.
It is sad that there is little loyalty left in the game. With
so much money at stake in the game clubs can no longer afford the luxury of
patience. Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, the longest serving manager in the premier
league, currently in his 20th year is a rarity. The second longest
serving premiere league manager by comparison has been at Bournemouth just four
years.
