Thursday night, Leicester City shocked the world by announcing they were parting ways with manager Claudio Ranieri just nine months after winning the Premier League title. A man who just led the club to arguably the greatest underdog triumph in all of sports is being shown the door.
The club is making a huge mistake by not trusting the man who steered them to greatness before. In the middle of one of the craziest times of the club’s history, an ill-advised managerial change is not what the club needed.
Leicester currently sit seventeenth in the Premier League table, just one spot ahead of the relegation as the final quarter of the season approaches. It has been frustrating for the Foxes as the attack has failed to score (they have not scored in the Premier League in 2017), and the defense has looked old and tired at times.
Last seasons superstars Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy have been poor and the team miss midfielder N’Golo Kante, who moved to Chelsea in the summer. All of these factors have contributed to Leicester’s struggles, so it is unreasonable to blame all the bad on Ranieri.
Ranieri’s last game in charge was Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Sevilla in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. Sevilla is a very difficult place to play and Leicester were able to grab a critical away goal.
All things considered, to make it to this stage of the tournament is a feat in its own right. To fire Ranieri in between the two fixtures against Sevilla gives the Foxes little time to prepare for the next leg under their new manager.
Ranieri gained a lot of knowledge about Sevilla during Wednesday’s game and would have been able to implement it in the second leg. Leicester looked significantly better after some half time adjustments in Sevilla on Wednesday. The new manager will not have this knowledge and Leicester will suffer because of it.
Then there is the moral aspect of it, firing the man who brought successes to the club that Leicester ownership and fans could have never dreamed of. Where is the loyalty? This man has brought the club to greatness before and they don’t trust him in their darkest hour. The firing is shameful for the entire LCFC organization for betraying a loyal servant of the club.
Leicester are wrong here both from a business standpoint and a moral one. This massive mistake may prove to cost them a spot in the Premier League.
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