(Newswire.net — March 1, 2017) — No one could have ever thought that a club like Leicester City could win the English Premier League and play Champions League soccer at this modern age.
Well, they did it last season, and they managed to prove that sporting miracles are truly possible.
One person who not only helped them along the way, but guided them with belief, passion, desire, and with a brave approach to the game, was the legendary Italian manager, Claudio Ranieri.
Who could have ever imagined that nine months after such a huge success, Ranieri would find himself jobless.
Yet, last week, the owners of the club decided to dismiss the man who deserves nothing but praise, which caused a mass media shock and disapproval.
However, there are some contradictory opinions which find this action justified, such as one by ex-Arsenal boss, George Graham. “If he was a CEO of a company that made £5billion one year but just about broke even the next, he’d be sacked. There isn’t too much difference”, says Graham, who claims that Ranieri failed to prepare the players for the crucial title defense, according to the UK Mirror.
This season, Leicester’s players are showing none of the form they had last year, and are battling for survival in the Premier League. Pundits and football experts believe that this is indeed down to the players who seem to have betrayed a man who has made them winners and engraved their names in soccer history.
Even Leicester’s vice-chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, publicly acknowledged Ranieri’s qualities, and thanked him for his contributions to the club, as well as for “developing its profile on a global scale“.
Unfortunately, historical records are no guarantee nor predictor of future success. And as this is often the case, the manager gets all the blame for bad results as it is impossible to sack the whole team and therefore, the coach ends up being relieved of his duties.
With all honesty, a good look must be made at those players and admit that they are rather average. It is most definitely a remarkable job to win such a trophy with a squad of that calibre, and those footballers should really take a very good look at themselves and be ashamed of the way they treated a legend.
The rumors say that the manager lost the dressing room, and that a few specific players turned their backs on him, but of course it remains unknown what happened behind closed doors.
The Daily Telegraph did report earlier in February that the players were angry and confused by Ranieri’s methods. Ranieri is known for his bizarre instructions and unexpected actions.
Reportedly, he frequently changed tactics without any warning, just a matter of hours before the match would kick-off.
Whichever the case, the public clearly believes that Ranieri should at least have the chance to finish the rest of the season with the team he led to such great heights.
But, player power remains a double-edged sword. On one hand, it is good to have strong voices and leaders in the squad, but they can sometimes turn on the manager who solely does not deserve to be held responsible for the failures.
As an example, have a look at Chelsea’s captain, John Terry, who has been mainly on the bench this season. However, he himself said that he wished not to play this season, as the team is doing so brilliantly without him.
That should be a great example of a real role model for all the young players in the world. It is not often that we see such a humble approach, with the importance of the team always before the needs of an individual.
It is a real shame that Claudio Ranieri had to pay such a high price. The world of sports in general seems to be going at such a fast pace that managers simply do not get the time they often deserve to stay at a club for a longer period of time.
While it remains to be seen who will be appointed as new Leicester City manager, the team is taken under the temporary care of Craig Shakespeare, assistant manager and first-team coach at Leicester since 2011.
A safe and calm alternative seems to be the right action for Leicester at the moment, ESPN concludes.