Nine months after leading then-minnows Leicester City to their first ever Premier League title, which many fans and pundits all over the world have hailed as the greatest Cinderella story in modern football history, Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri was sacked by the club’s board.
Ranieri was relieved of his duties as Leicester boss on the 23rd of February, 586 days after he was first brought in as club manager.
Some weeks ago, one of the pundits for an English network giving colour commentary on Leicester’s Premier League home game against Manchester United asked if it would be mad for the King Power Stadium outfit to sack the manager who had given them their historic Premier League title win just a season before? Surely, it is, but this season had been so abysmal for the club that if not for Ranieri’s title win, he would’ve been sacked before New Year.
In a black-and-white perspective, the pundit was right. During that time, the defending league champions were already in dire straits. Before they faced off against United, Leicester have won only two of their last 14 games, sending them to within inches of the relegation zone.
Fast forward to today, Leicester are in a six-game winless streak, 17th in the league with 21 points, just one point clear from the drop with 13 games left to play. Surely, the players have to take some, if not most of the blame. But with Ranieri as the manager, the man at the helm, logic dictates that he take responsibility for his on-pitch decisions.
Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha can certainly be understood, perhaps even forgiven, for taking the drastic step of sacking Ranieri. The Foxes supremo is after all merely being pragmatic regarding his decision. Nobody protested when Swansea sacked Francesco Guidolin back in October last year when the Welsh club were in a similar position. No tears were also shed for Alan Pardew when he was sent packing by Crystal Palace last December – and to think that Pardew is fan favourite at Selhurst Park.
And yet, to sack Ranieri without giving him a chance, especially after what he did for the club last season, is plain wrong. Even if Leicester were to go down this year, the Italian tactician should’ve at least been given the opportunity to bring the club back to the top come the next season.
These dire times are in itself an opportunity for the club and its players to show faith in the manager that have enabled them to achieve the impossible – and they have failed to do so. In every sense of the word, the sacking of Claudio Ranieri, the man the fans have grown to love, is simply heartless.