Premier League champions Leicester City sacked Italian manager Claudio Ranieri late on Thursday, nine months after he clinched one of soccer’s most remarkable triumphs but with the team now hovering above the relegation zone.
Ranieri’s side stunned the sporting world when they secured a maiden English top-flight title last May, having begun the season as 5000-1 outsiders, but have struggled to repeat those heroics in the current campaign. They are currently 17th in the table, a point and a place above the bottom three, having lost their past five league matches. They are the only side in the top four English divisions without a league goal in 2017.
“Leicester City Football Club has tonight (Thursday) parted company with its first team manager, Claudio Ranieri,” the club said in a statement. “Claudio, appointed City manager in July 2015, led the Foxes to the greatest triumph in the club’s 133-year history last season, as we were crowned champions of England for the first time. His status as the most successful Leicester City manager of all time is without question.”
Ranieri, in his first comments after his sacking, said he had dreamt of staying at Leicester City "for always".
"Yesterday my dream died," Ranieri said yesterday. "After the euphoria of last season and being crowned Premier League champions all I dreamt of was staying with Leicester City, the club I love, for always. Sadly this was not to be."
Ranieri thanked his wife Rosanna, his family and his agents, Steve Kutner and Franco Granello, for "bringing me the opportunity to become a champion".
The former Chelsea boss also added his appreciation for backroom staff members Paolo Benetti and Andrea Azzalin, who departed with him, but he declined to mention Craig Shakespeare, the assistant who was rumoured to have fallen out with him in recent weeks.
Ranieri, who arrived at the King Power Stadium in 2015, will go down as the most important figure in Leicester's previously unheralded history and he paid tribute to everyone who accompanied him on the club's incredible rags to riches rise.
"Mostly I have to thank Leicester City Football Club. The adventure was amazing and will live with me forever," Ranieri added. "Thank you to all the journalists and the media who came with us and enjoyed reporting on the greatest story in football.
"My heartfelt thanks to everybody at the club, all the players, the staff, everybody who was there and was part of what we achieved. But mostly to the supporters. You took me into your hearts from day one and loved me.
"I love you too. No one can ever take away what we together have achieved, and I hope you think about it and smile every day the way I always will. It was a time of wonderfulness and happiness that I will never forget. It's been a pleasure and an honour to be a champion with all of you."
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