ranieri sacked ?

I do not believe that any coach who wins the league one year then gets relegated the next can be surprised if he gets the shove.
Its a pity
but bottom line is Claudio was failing
Wenger is succeeding..
..as long as he keeps making top 4

all about the  ££££

HoofArted  -  good point!   Crazy isn't it. Just like bank managers in that respect. (Think I'll join you in applying!)

Anyone who remembers my Leicester threads from last year may have an inkling as to what went on.

#justsayno

He Has Not Been Relegated!!!

Mancini fav?

It's amazing how last season nobody was coming out of the woodwork to say how lucky they were then, but now he's been sacked everyone is a genius in hindsight, everyone could see it coming and how much lucky they had to the win the title.

Truth is somewhat more simple.

Kante was a MASSIVE part of them winning the league, the leg work he put it to retrieving possession, carrying in forward and passing it on to Mahrez and Vardy, when he went, up until Xmas, Vardy and Mahrez only made 1 single successful pass between themselves! and Kante was never repalce with a like for like player. Not that Kante's grow on trees but still.

Then there was the business of refs clamping down on the way they defend, they literally had a representative from the FA going around the grounds before the season began to explain the new laws which basically outlawed everything the Leicester defence was doing last season, i.e. being very very physical, tussling with forwards, grabbing shirts when their shirts wer being grabbed etc. Then all of a sudden there are all too scared to do the same thing because the new rules means Penalty.

Vardy's head was turned with the whole Arsenal thing to, and Mahrez like Payed downed tools because he realised he should have left when he has the chance.

And the top scout leaving too.

A combination of many small things.

The new manager will encouter the same problem, he may have his honeymoon period that will last 3-4 games, but it wont last.

scandanavian_haven, theres a ton of match threads saved on here with me saying the exact same thing I've been saying tonight, me and other on here all agreed that Leicester would win the league in spite of Ranieri and not because of him.

A lot of the hysteria tonight is just a kneejerk reaction from the people who believed the media hype, the Leicester fairytale story was a myth created for non-football fans but was welcome enough from everyone that they bought into it.  Leicester won the league last year because they had some outstanding footballers, playing a system that fitted their individual skills perfectly.

Whats behind the hysteria is the ongoing belief that more expensive players are a lot better than less expensive players, the truth is that the gap between a 40million pound player and 5million pound player isnt as much as people think it is.  Despite English sides losing to teams in Europe with a fraction of their budget every year the belief has persisted, again like the entire Leicester Champions story its fuelled by the media (Sky especially).

The other top sides were gash last year, I think Hazard had 4 goals and 3 assists in the league   During the Euro's this summmer there were still people talking up Belgium as potential tournament winners based of their individual players, with Haard always being mentioned, he was sh1t last year but the medias narrative is the one most tend to go with.

As I said before it should have been up to Ranieri to stay or go, hes more than earned the right to decide but dont kid yourselves he was the mamstermind behind Leicester winning the league as I could see almost any other manager going close with the same squad and circumstances of season 2015/16.

dont need a manager then just some random guy on a betting forum cd be a PL winner

What would another manager have done differently to Ranieri?

He had about 14 good players to choose from and every other side in the league still believes that keeping possession makes you Barcelona 2009/2010 but his squad was perfectly set up to absorb it.

He had one very quick striker, one very hard working forward and another who needs space and time to collect and pick out his next pass, which is ideal when youre letting the other team have the ball.  What would another manager have done differently to Ranieri?


What Ranieri did bring to the table was his temperament, he was always cool, when the pressure shouldve been on them he didnt seem phased.  On the flip side, there were plenty of times when he shouldve lost his cool and put more pressure on his players.

Kyle MartinoVerified account‏@kylemartino  4h4 hours ago
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If LCFC fans willing to be relegated to show appreciation for trophy Ranieri helped deliver that's their prerogative, but that was the trade-off.

beware the Ides of March

Ciao

Mancini favourite whats all that about

Every time a manager is sacked we all take pleasure from it.But not in this case,This man put pride back into Leicester people,he give the city a great lift ,and to be honest he give everyone who follows football a lift.
its a thundering disgrace the way he was treated,and we all would have being behind him to win the champions league.And who is to say he could not.Hang your heads in shame Leicester City board of management.
you got rid of one of the greats in football ,but the biggest mistake was you got rid of a guy who cared so much about the people of Leicester.AND WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.Leicester City board of management you will be remembered if football history,but its your actions on  23 feb 2017 that will be remembered.

The thing I don't get with this is the timing. They waited until they lost 2-1 to Sevilla to do it. That wasn't even a bad result, so it suggests he was a dead man walking regardless and were almost hoping they would get a pasting just so they could justify it.

Has to be said Leicester looked a side in big danger of going down, and maybe they still will. As a Utd fan, I'm not sure Utd have had an easier game than when they beat Leicester 3-0 away all season, they just offered nothing.

Leicester City board of management you will be remembered if football history,but its your actions on  23 feb 2017 that will be remembered.Sad

nonsense

in 20 years when people are thinking back about Ranieri and Leicester their crap season after and his sacking will be something that noone cares about`

It

For all the stuff about stability, there's no real evidence that stability makes you any more likely to succeed than the hiring and firing approach. It's just enough people in the media will talk about it that it gets bandied about so people believe in it.

It'S  .sad. However when the its over Raneiri walks home and next year who cares. We move on. Raneiri was treated like **** but so what. We move on

clacherholiday2    23 Feb 17 23:25 
scandanavian_haven, theres a ton of match threads saved on here with me saying the exact same thing I've been saying tonight, me and other on here all agreed that Leicester would win the league in spite of Ranieri and not because of him.

A lot of the hysteria tonight is just a kneejerk reaction from the people who believed the media hype, the Leicester fairytale story was a myth created for non-football fans but was welcome enough from everyone that they bought into it.  Leicester won the league last year because they had some outstanding footballers, playing a system that fitted their individual skills perfectly.



Here is a poster who knowing that Leicester had such a great set of players backed the team to win the title despite having reservations about the manager. Such wonderful foresight this person had to see that Leicester would have won with virtually any manager in charge.

they obviously have someone lined up be it rowett warburton or whoever , i would hope its wenger but i wouldnt wish that on leicester

probably the worst sacking of all time i would guess

thelatarps   







  23 Feb 17 23:00 
Joined:   13 Jul 02      | Topic/replies: 2,629  | Blogger: thelatarps's blog   



I do not believe that any coach who wins the league one year then gets relegated the next can be surprised if he gets the shove.
Its a pity
but bottom line is Claudio was failing
Wenger is succeeding..
..as long as he keeps making top 4


Claudio was failing, Arsene is succeeding Leicester finish 17th it is a successful season for them, staying in the league is their be all and end all and they're still in a position to do so. How you can make out Arsenal finishing top 4 every year but never look like winning the league is succeeding and Leicester in 17th is failing.

As I already said had Leicester finished 17th last year they'd have took that and Ranieri would not have been sacked, they know thanks to the miracle Ranieri conjured up (with his players) last season believe they're something they are not.

he lived in glory he brought to LEICESTER  probably never happen again for 130 plus years ..  so well done to him ..
cruel game if you don't do well  only certainty is a Manager will walk or be SACKED at some time . Thats life .. Now its a move up the league away from  the relegation looming .. or the club drops to Championship and REBUILDS STRONGER AND BETTER ,  difficult to join the  MANAGER ... MERRY GO ROUND that supports football .. Welcome to our world .. SAD DAY  .....the players have also contributed  ...............and too strong Dressing room .............spells real trouble ahead .. Enjoy the ride .. all aboard ...BACK TO  REALLY HARD WORK  ..... for all   ........ENJOY   ..........

He won them the Premier League.
He should have had a job for life.

ridiculous comment...so if he never won another game, they still shouldnt sack him? it's a professional sport yet some people speak as if he's a faithful old retriever they've had put down

wouldnt have happened 10 -15 years ago would have been allowed to get relegated and return. commercial decision re tv deals etc. destroyed game.
boards live in fear of being relegated, witness sunderland , problem is no continuity( each manager brings in own staff etc), and eventually get relegated anyway( most likely this season ) .

Two points

- the number of Leicester fans, who have stated that if they were offered, at the beginning of last season You will win the Premier League title, but then be relegated next season, said they definitely wouldn't take it, beggars belief.

I would happily take two or three relegations if Sunderland could go through what they went through.

- Heard an interesting point, that if they wanted him gone, this is the only time they could do it,
because if they get through against Sevilla in the 2nd Leg, his position would be too secure.

duncan idaho
it looks like you would sack a manager because they might go winless in the future

Football used to be a game, but now it's a business

Oh and if Kante was still there different ball game

get the feeling they wanted to get hammered in seville.

exactly poppydog, football is about trophies etc, remember wigan, win fa cup and get relegated, id love that. can always get promoted, club doesn't die just because they get relegated.

apparently at the start of last season, when expecting a relegation dogfight (and they went on to win the league) ranieri was asked if he would stay with leicester even if they went down , how that boards attitude has changed

absolutely disgusting

any leicester fan if offered would surely have taken a premier league win followed by a relegation (and that wasnt even sure to happen)

hell if arsenal won the c/l in my lifetime id probably even accept relegation the year after aswell

its the same for wigan winning the fa cup beating man city with all their billions and going down the same season , their f a cup win is in the history books forever

staggering to see leicesters board behave in this way whilst arsenals continues to reward financial success but footballing failure season after season

sad old game now

and ignore thelatarps im pretty sure most spurs fans would love to see wenger stay i know i would if i were one

i think the sacking of claudio raneiri last night by  leicester city goes to show what a  souless cess pit the "beautiful game" has become.  a lovely gentleman who got a team who were 5000/1 to win last season with a team of mostly journeymen was the outstanding managerial achievement of the last 50 years(at least). wednesday night he got them within a 1/0 victory of the last 8 in the champions league. following morning he get the bullet.

totally agree kavvie


its an absolute disgrace

Hope they go down now

Exactly kav, the game has become a business now esp for the Prem League, the business men have taken over, not people that love football, its all about the money men like we have at the head of AFC now, Wenger can stay as long as he wants, he produces the goods for them, money that is.
Love the comments how any bloke almost could of won the league with Leicester last yr, ridiculous statements but typical of some I suppose. CR will be ok though lads, it is what it is nowadays, nothing can shock you in the footballing world these days, he will I'm sure have a very nice compo package from the millionaires that own the club, prob some nice 7 figure sum Id guess. He,l also prob get a nice offer from China too and be in clover again

A lot of sentimental bollocks being spoken about football losing its soul.  A multimillionaire loses his job with a multimillion pay off oh I'm sobbing into me Coco Pops this morning.

Raneiri got lucky his luck ran out football moves on.  Next manager please.

The right thing to do before its to late for                     Championship football  next season that's were they are  heading. When the        players are not preforming for the  manager like players did last year at Chelsea. His record this year "tinkering" on the field and off is very poor. Nobody is bigger than the Football club.

i wouldnt like to be ur dog !!  if he came in lame would you put him down or into the pound?!!?

Poppydog 24 Feb 17 09:15

- the number of Leicester fans, who have stated that if they were offered, at the beginning of last season You will win the Premier League title, but then be relegated next season, said they definitely wouldn't take it, beggars belief



they are kidding themselves...no sane person supporting a yo-yo club would turn down the chance of winning the Prem...what on Earth is the point  if you would gladly turn your back on once-in-a-lifetime glory for the sake of some temporary 'hovering above the relegation zone' security   

cant believe someone's trotted out 'tinkering' ffs 

i dont think leicester would have gone down with ranieri, now im not so sure

Leicester looked like a side going down though. On what basis in recent weeks were they going to stay up. They looked totally incapable of getting a result.

cant see what changes with a new manager , to be true to himself anyone watching leicester this season would have to walk in there and drop,morgan,huth,schemical,drinkwater,maybe even vardy can anyone see that happening,its possible they,ll get a good kicking off l,pool what happens then

It looks like it was the players that directly got him the sack after talking to the club owner.

What exactly could have gone so wrong behind the scenes, they were all behinf him last season and now they've all turned on him ?

There's something we don't know, maybe there was a big argument where he called certain players out in front of everyone or something.

Not the full story is out anyhow.

Not the full story is out anyhow.

aye the papers would be sued if they where to print the truth and tell us what we already know, the players are a bunch of fkin cants

Leicester had to pull the rip cord sooner or later, he was taking them down. Ranieri knows the score, if he wanted loyalty he would have managed a dog's home.

sure mentally it's been tough for the players...to go from workmanlike> Gods> bozos in space of 18 months...they've tried to look at themselves and 'dig in' but it hasnt got any better so who do they blame now? they've turned on the manager cos there's no-one else to turn on

yep he ll be ok , his reputations intact and he ll get another big pay off so maybe we shouldnt feel too sorry for him , still a disgrace imo though

i do think seville was a good result though and that vardy goal could have been a turning point and we ll see but it seems the decision was made before then

may be getting my games muddled but i am sure the leicester fans were singing ranieris name during the sevilla match. ??

Unbelievable decision. The more foreign owners/players seem to be taking the game down in this country.

Did the rather average players who won the Premiership last year go to the Board to say what a fantastic job the manager had done ?

total reverse of arsenal , fans want wenger out (no title in 13 years)  , board does fck all (great balance sheet)

i would think at leicester , fans supported ranieri (and rightly so after last season)  but the board just see pound signs

so the common denominator is money and for that reason

footballs finished imo

sparrow.  I didnt back them antepost, Ivenever in my life seen a bet at such amaxzing value it was worth waiting months for.

I did back them a bunch of times week to week like everyone else, backed against them too, maybe we're all geniuses like you say.

football is business...who knew? 

Last 2 EPL champions sacked their manager the following season.
Hope Leicester dwindle and die

I feel the players got him the sack for reasons we will never know. Thats the prem where all the players are millionaires and if they dont like you they simply dont care about being dropped. Bit different from the days when being dropped meant losing wages which meant financial hardship.I thought Leicster did Ok against Seville but the players want to stay in the competition so played with more energy.The prem is a circus that ordinary loyal fans are detached
from. Good luck to Claudio. Im not a Leicster fan but watching them win the title was one of my favourite football moments.If they get Pardew they will deserve relegation.

.....all those fans from the city who phoned into 606 last season and were humoured by everyone.
You sounded thick as f***, thankfully we wont hear from you again.

mancini 9/2 now with the baldy one so hes not getting it

the players,coaching staff got him the sack so we should get a few clues from mondays team selection,cant see how it helps because there,ll just be some different players upset at the new lads
in charge

some of these Leicester fans sound like they are a bit simple .   Most fans would  take winning the title and relegation every time  -what's so great about being a very average PL side playing the likes of Bromwich and Stoke ffs ?  - surely better to be a  side doing OK and playing nice football a league lower in front of good support than struggling every year .

I can only assume most Leic fans if relegated,  would think it'd take 10 years to 'get back'

yet some people speak as if he's a faithful old retriever they've had put down
________________________________________________________________________________________

made me laugh that line

Clacher - saying anyone could have managed Leicester to the title with those players.

Well your hero Wenger wouldn't have played that way. Would be in the Championship already with him in charge.

Alan Pardew was told pre-season to play more attractive football by the owner. He tried it their way and got the sack. Owners seem to be totally clueless about football decisions.

Leicester City players - what a bunch of horrible totally ordinary journeymen  you are ... Lineker was right when he said 'Huth and Morgan without Kante in front of them look like Huth and Morgan.' So do the fcukin rest of you - look like fcukin sh!t , p!ss-poor average players that is. Ranieri took you all the way for one season and you all lived the dream, none of you will ever do that again, enjoy your downward spiral, coz if you are lucky enough to stay up this season there is only one way for such a heartless, despicable, disloyal, egotistical, untalented bunch of bloodsucking leeches and that is down. LCFC the whole league cheered you on last year, doubt if even your most fanatical supporter will find anything to warrant support here. Karma will be the winner here.

take it ur not impressed with the players then..vidou..or did i read that wrongly?!

... you think I'm being harsh johnny...? Be interested to hear what some of the LCFC lads think. and btw I support a club where a lot of players haven't pulled their weight over the last few years

Blackrock
24 Feb 17 20:00

Well your hero Wenger

like mourinho last season - had to go. the board stuck with both for too long. once you lose the dressing room it's over...and we knew this many weeks before now and the same with the chelsea fiasco last year. now i actually fancy leicester to stay up. i backed them to go down at 5/1. but now i guess we will see the players put in the effort and it will be enough to stay up

all about money in the end. apart from man city and chelsea all the foreign owners are looking to make money out of owning an english club. they can't afford an exit from the premier league

I feel that with more light being shed on the sacking of CR I have to say that it must be a huge mistake to consult the players.
Effectively the owners are accepting the players performance in doing this.
The players know now that they can get away with playing like this and if results keep going this way they are immune from criticism.
It is sunderland all over again.
Leicester city it appears are booked for successive relegation dogfights until they go down.
As surely they will with this collection of footballers.
And thats a real shame.

hope they go down, board will get what they deserve.

Wasn't that Ranieri sitting with the Chinese owners during the match.

seems to me the only people who are angry about raneiri being sacked are those who bought into the fairytale narrative driven by the media, theyre mad their fary story has been busted.  the guy was too complacent and should never have been hired in the first place.

Claudio's only mistake was to turn a bunch of overrated journeymen into overpaid p0unces total fu cking disgrace !

clacherholiday2 was he a Leicester layer last season?

Backed for and against them a bunch of times when the bookies had no idea what to make them, had the same £0 matched antepost I usually have.

Really ??  ie ''....and he should never have been hired in the first place'' Not sure they did badly enough last season to justify those words, well-considered as they may have been....

I said earlier in this thread it was his mild complacent attitude that helped take the pressure off his side as the points racked up and the others fell back, as important as that was its all he really brought to the campaign.  I reckon you couldve put Bob Bradley in charge of that Leicester side and theyd have finished no lower than 6th.

The view from the clubs fans is pretty split on if he shouldve been sacked or not, they had nothing like the hysterical outcry everyone else did, speaks olumes to me. 

I also said ealrier Ranieri earned the right not to be sacked and shoulde left on his own terms, shoulde been given the same treatment as Enrique at Barca, stay on until the end of the year and move on then.

Well? Whether or not they'd have gone down with Ranieri  we shall never know but the foxes do seem to be turning up at games now and might just see it out. Their  visit to the Emirates could be interesting though, for both sides. Venger could do with a result.

At least people from outside the club could see that the players have not been trying their best most of the season. I assume they were still being paid their wages before the last couple of games.

OMG all most everyone here sits on his higher than thou seat but it is not your team not your club ....tell me the difference between King CR and JM...just personality ...everyone could see we were a broken team and why was that?????...so many things but as in every team it comes back to the manager and Sky are C**ts fuelling the fire spent 15hrs getting back from Sevilla then seen the news and watched all day friday as Rob D (I think) reported from the KP and said that THE OWNERS called a meeting with some players (SKY then kept saying that PLAYERS had a meeting ) which suggested the players called it and then Matt Elliot was on (top man) and none of his thoughts were used in any sound bites throughout the day and a national outburst of how could you do that to King CR?? even a journalist on Sunday Supplement said "he should be allowed to take them down" f***ing B***s***s if it was your team and you lived the dream... before it all happened you would take the title then relegation but seeing your team fall apart no way not like this and to those who doubt it fans before Xmas started to say he should go they could see something was wrong (whatever it was) but for me and I would think every fan no one wanted it to end like this (I think something will be done eventually to honour King CR by the club) but as time goes by people will see it was the right decision

and my wish list is

Monaco in the next round of the CL
and the Hull C manager as ours :)

I have spent the past 60+ years dreaming of winning the title with a club that has spent more time at the top level. You don't know how fortunate you have been and quite frankly never will.

fans before Xmas started to say he should go -

How does it take 15hrs to get back from Sevilla? Did you walk part of the way?

It's just a sad sad situation. He deserved better from the players imo.

Mar 6, 2017 -- 12:05PM, sparrow wrote:

I have spent the past 60+ years dreaming of winning the title with a club that has spent more time at the top level. You don't know how fortunate you have been and quite frankly never will.

" You don't know how fortunate you have been and quite frankly never will" ...don't talk bollocks our whole City is still in disbelief that we won it and in disbelief how bad we have been this season.....all I wanted was to finish above 10th so we beat Chelsea from last season (lets discount Man City from 1938) even when we sing "Champions of England we know what we are" it started to sound laughable after Xmas due to our performances I hated it imagine the scorn and ridicule and then we sang "We got our Leicester back" after the win against Hull.....to be honest we can play like this to avoid relegation but moving forward I don't think so ....King CR is like an ex that you still love and will always love but after the year of bliss it went sourer :( ........@ericstar I wholly agree

@hippe yes there were grumblings among fans (who go every game they know something was wrong) and if I had walked may have been quicker :) but train to Madrid then flight to Stansted then storm Doris!! no trains had to go NE (bus) to MK and missed the connecting bus got one later

[b]   It's just a sad sad situation. He deserved better from the players imo.
[/b

  ..  sums it up for me as well. dramatic turnaround in form to say the least. after the sacking i for one was hoping they they got relegated.

   fairytale turned into a horror story.....shame. ]

surfer rosa    Joined: 05 Sep 02
Replies: 374 07 Mar 17 10:03 

" You don't know how fortunate you have been and quite frankly never will" ...don't talk bollocks our whole City is still in disbelief that we won it and in disbelief how bad we have been this season.



Just answer one question then...........Do you think your players were giving 100% all of this season?

Judas getting the Gig couldnt write it

@sparrow I know that you are getting at the L'pool game and the energy and verve they put in but did you expect anything less? I would say 90% of teams would have done the same but the thing for me is what went wrong this season and why because something broke down within the club after the greatest season ever ..... here is a good angle on what may have happened ...sorry but lost the link but here it is in full

This is a great read....written by a Leicester city biographer
The satellite trucks and foreign television crews were back, Friday lunchtime, for a manager’s press conference at King Power stadium but not for dilly dongs, rather the death knell of a manager — and, some would have it, nothing less than sporting romance itself.
Leicester: the club that changed the world’s view of modern football only to trick us and change in a way that merely re-emphasised the game’s deep treachery. That picture may stick. On Friday evening, poor Claudio Ranieri was outside his house in Stoneygate, smilingly accepting hugs from a mournful female fan and, from a bloke, a bottle of red wine in a Leicester City plastic bag.
He issued a statement about his dream dying. That had been “to stay with Leicester City, the club I love, for always”. Jose Mourinho faced the media wearing the initials “CR” on his tracksuit. Via Twitter, Gary Lineker let it known his tears were jerked.
Leicester: a year ago, this was a land of miracles. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Leonardo Ulloa scoring against Norwich and the King Power’s celebrations causing a small local earthquake. Last time Liverpool visited, Jamie Vardy bagged goal of the season in front of a Hollywood producer who decided to turn his life story into a film. After, a fan got 5,000 signatories on a petition to make his girlfriend name their baby daughter “Vardy”.
Now? “Disgrace!” concluded a message sent through official lines to the club after Ranieri’s sacking was made public at 8pm on Thursday. The sender was a foreign journalist. “INGLESI INGRATI” thundered La Gazzetta Dello Sport, who said: “Leicester, the club who, with Ranieri, became a prince, courted by the world’s media, return to being a normal frog.”
It’s a great line. And they are right. And, don’t worry, Leicester know it. But while they have opened commercial offices in London and toured Los Angeles on the back of winning last season’s Premier League title, the club, an official said, had to think “of the 200 people who work here, and the core supporters” — not new fans or neutrals with a romantic, fleeting interest. Owners Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his son, Aiyawatt, are duty-free magnates but this was a decision taken for the natives not the tourists.
Lineker’s tears will dry and Mourinho will wear a different top today; for the Srivaddhanaprabhas it has to be about lasting issues, like top-flight survival. Under Ranieri, Leicester had won one and lost seven of their past 10 Premier League games, failing to score in the league in 2017, despite £80m spent to reinforce a title-winning squad, and they kick off against Liverpool down among the relegation contenders. The owners did what romantics will not: forget last season and just look at this.
The absence, on social media, of goodwill messages for Ranieri from players was picked up on and significant. As was the nuance in how Craig Shakespeare described he and Ranieri’s farewell chat on Thursday: “A brief phone call where we exchanged views. But at the end we did thank each other.”
A well-sourced reporter had “close friends” of Ranieri saying “the vast majority” of players were behind him, furthering the torrent of media blame towards an “ungrateful” squad for his demise. Another, who knows Ranieri well, pointed towards discord with Shakespeare in his analysis. There are always two sides. Stay “for always” at Leicester? Come on. Cuddly as Claudio can be, can he only be taken at face value? Last season, wasn’t that his rivals’ mistake?
Players felt Shakespeare was isolated by Ranieri this season. Some also felt that Ranieri did little to keep Steve Walsh, who departed for Everton in summer. Walsh and Shakespeare were the assistants Ranieri inherited when he replaced Nigel Pearson — and the Pearson-Walsh-Shakespeare triumvirate built most of the squad, not just in terms of personnel but culture.
Despite Pearson’s alpha male image, his way was to empower players and staff, encourage opinions, even defer to them on key issues like training schedules — hence the unusually “light” regime when Leicester, making the fewest changes, suffering the fewest injuries, won the title. They did full training just two days a week. and were just back from a week’s holiday a year ago.
Ranieri had wanted to change things when he arrived but part of his genius was recognising he’d inherited a club where much already worked — Leicester survived under Pearson with seven wins from nine games. He listened to Shakespeare regarding training, and Walsh on recruitment: to replace Esteban Cambiasso, Ranieri signed Gokhan Inler but allowed Walsh his own candidate, N’Golo Kante. This season the collegiate style of management, lauded by the World Economic Forum last season, seemed gone.
Players felt he communicated less. His habit — in contrast to Pearson’s workaholic culture — of leaving the training ground by 1.30pm began grating. Days off were cancelled and the training load increased — there was even a session on the morning of an FA Cup tie against Derby.
As results declined, he transmitted suspicion (particularly unfounded in one case) about players’ off-field activities, causing umbrage. There were threats to hole them up in a hotel if they didn’t win games — “you don’t see your wife.”
A constant changing of formation, line-up and tactics baffled. Shinji Okazaki said the team never lost spirit but became “confused what to do with it” and how to play without Kante. The January transfer window, and further outlay on Wilfred Ndidi, was supposed to bring clarity but in consecutive defeats against Manchester United and Swansea, Ranieri had to make two half-time substitutions in tacit admission his selection was wrong; changes at the interval or early in the second half were becoming common.
Players felt they were going on field with too many instructions; all such a shame, because Ranieri’s use of Pearson’s template with only a sprinkling of “Italian tactics, my little tactics” seemed so clever last year.
His preference for Ahmed Musa over Demarai Gray became a bone of contention. Gray is highly rated by the squad’s old lags not just for his ability but mentality, while Musa was struggling to adapt to English football. The away goal, in Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat in Seville, that gives Leicester a fighting chance of reaching the Champions League quarter- finals came after Gray replaced Musa and changed the game: teammates thought not starting Gray in the first place was “bizarre”.
Dismissing Ranieri was decided before Seville — in the wake of a 2-0 defeat at Swansea, where the owners did not get the “bounce” hoped for from a bonding meal with players and now-sorry-looking vote of confidence in Ranieri. The club suggests that if Khun Vichai spoke to a couple of players on Thursday it was to inform them about a decision already taken, not to seek opinion.
Player sources scotch the notion of a meeting where the squad sought Ranieri’s head. What is likely is the owners knew the dressing room concerns about their former manager. If “player power” was at work then that term, with relation to Leicester, needs to be properly understood.
The title, remember, was won by a group deliberately empowered, whose strength of mind was their greatest asset, and the Srivaddhanaprabhas have close bonds with the significant number who have been there for four, five or more years. They are owners who stage social events for their squad and look after them on personal levels: they have an understanding what players are thinking without needing meetings.
Their Thai-Buddhist background make them prize loyalty and generosity. On one level they deserted these principles by showing Ranieri none, on another they stuck to them by going with their older employees, the player group, and their perceived needs.
What do the players want now? For many, Pearson back. It’s believed Leicester have gone a little way to exploring that option but that the reality is difficult to envisage, because of the emotive circumstances behind Pearson’s departure in summer 2015.
Martin O’Neill has many friends, including director Jon Rudkin, still at the club from his time as manager. Roberto Mancini’s representatives have a line into Eduardo Macia, who replaced Walsh as recruitment head, but Mancini is eyeing the Milan job and Macia himself might now be under pressure: a Ranieri appointment and family friend, he and Rudkin presided over the frustrating January transfer window.
Guus Hiddink, in another firefighter role, is the intriguing subject of Dutch speculation. Chelsea exploits may particularly impress the Srivaddhanaprabhas, who had a box at Stamford Bridge before owning Leicester. An extended stint for Shakespeare would be the next-best-thing to Pearson for players — and is a real possibility.
“In selecting the next manager they should look at what made them good. Togetherness. Mentality. Happiness. The English style. Leicester is a very ordinary club without all that,” said a source with a strong handle on the thoughts of the dressing room.
The fans loved Ranieri but also love their old players and respect the ownership, and bet on unity rather than rancour at the King Power tomorrow night. As Mourinho said, “you can never press delete” on what Ranieri did but he himself is part of the odd statistic that tells us four of the past seven Premier League champions sacked their manager within a year. It’s why Sir Alex Ferguson was the strangest, fiercest beast: achieving success, and knowing what to do after it, are such different things.

and maybe one more but you might have to answer a ? to read it

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/leicester-mind-guru-wa...

surfer, have a look what cantona has to say  " dirty dogs " sums it up.   

3 games - 3 wins - scored 8 - conceded 2

Good of them to start playing again. Are they being paid wages now?

.. CANTONA was still right imo. 

Not are they only getting paid, they're playing a 4-4-2 formation that was played last season to good effect

EPL Champions - CL Quarter finalists (only remaining British team) - New Manager (Craig Shakespeare) - Played 6 - Won 6 - Scored 15 - Conceded 4

Just Poetry

Shakespeare the bard of Leicester. Has a ring to it don't you think?

4-4-2 - You know it makes sense