Craig Shakespeare’s four-month spell as Leicester City manager came to a crashing end after the Foxes board saw fit to remove him from the position.
Initially taking over from the Premier League winning Claudio Ranieri, Shakespeare will be given credit for arresting a rather worrying rot which saw the Foxes hurtling towards relegation.
As impressive Leicester’s upper hierarchy has been in seeing the ship steadied with encouraging performances, an inability to accrue a convincing number of Premier League points (the Foxes currently sit in the bottom three) has seen the club seek a more convincing personality in their quest to climb the table.
Such luminaries as Roberto Mancini and Alan Pardew have been eyed up as potential replacements, however, Burnley’s Sean Dyche looks to be the clubs prime target given his exemplary work at the Lancashire club. Indeed various bookmakers have been busy watching the situation intently as such managerial heavyweights as Sam Allardyce and Carlo Ancelotti have now distanced themselves away from the vacancy. Currently, the Kettering born gaffer sits at 2/1 to take the role. Such odds more than deserve a free punt, Coral free bet review may just be the ideal place to put a bet on the former Watford boss upping sticks to join the Midlanders.
Undeniably in the lower echelons of the Premier League wage scale, Dyche has performed wonders with the overachieving side, moulding his players into a formidable defensive unit despite a gulf in talent compared to much of the league’s uber clubs. Given Leicester’s defensive troubles, such rigid defensive structure may seem like an ideal solution for the club kingmakers.
Added to that, the fact that 60m was spent in the summer transfer window on Kelechi Iheanacho, Harry Maguire and Vicente Iborra, will likely mean that a manager willing to work with very little financial assistance will be an added bonus.
Following the exit of club favourite Shakespeare, Leicester’s vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha gave the following statement;
“Craig has been a great servant to Leicester City – during his spells as an assistant manager and since taking over as Manager in challenging circumstances in February. His dedication to the club and to his work has been absolute and the contribution he made to the most successful period in Leicester City history is considerable.
“However, our early promise under Craig’s management has not been consistently evident in the months since and the Board feels that, regrettably, a change is necessary to keep the Club moving forward – consistent with the long-term expectations of our supporters, board and owners.
“Craig is and will remain a very popular, respected figure at Leicester City and will be welcome back at King Power Stadium in future, both professionally and as a friend of the club.”