Claudio Ranieri Needed Gladiators, But Now He Is Free

Claudio Ranieri spoke of needing Gladiators after Leicester’s defeat in the F.A. Cup to Millwall last Saturday but now the Italian has fallen on his own sword after sensationally being sacked by the club last night.

It seems as if there is no such thing as loyalty anymore as even winning a Premier League title does not grant you the time that you once would and in my opinion still should be afforded to you in regards to your job status.

No one really expected Leicester to win the title this season after the fairytale of the one previously but who expected their defence of the Premier League to be quite this bad, a nosedive down the table has got the clubs Thai owners worried as the thought of dropping down a division is one that they do not want to entertain.

And with other clubs such as Swansea and Hull gambling by rolling the dice and making managerial changes they have seen somewhat of a resurgence, one that has dragged Leicester deeper and deeper into what looks like a real relegation battle.

Ranieri won the league but lost the dressing room and once you’ve done that then it is almost near impossible to halt a slide of this nature. But how much blame do those players that won the title last season have to take this time around?

It seems as if they have hung the 67 year old out to dry, they know that it peaked last season and life was never going to be as good again. But their performances have not been anywhere near the calibre required and results have proven this.

The problem is at this part of the season you cannot sack the players, so there is only one man who has to die on his sword and that is Claudio Ranieri. Is it the right decision?, from a fans point of view probably not.

But from an owners view then should they manage to stay up with a new man in change then they would make the correct call. That said with the club being so many neutrals favourites this time year you get the feeling that all that good will would have now disappeared.

Many felt that after his heroics of last season Ranieri should have at least been given until the end of the season but would have that mean relegation and the ultimate crash and burn for The Foxes, if anything it’s almost the perfect third chapter to the story.

A club that pulls off the great escape with Nigel Pearson who then goes on to be sacked, they then hire Claudio Ranieri with many thinking that they will then go down. They pull off the unbelievable feat of not just staying up but winning the Premier League.

But like Icarus have they flown too close to the Sun and will everything now come crashing down around them. Even if it was to as a Leicester fan you surely would not swap the league title for the world even if it did mean relegation the season after.

It seems now that just staying up in the top flight is the most important thing in Football, is the sacking of Ranieri the complete proof that Football has finally sold its soul. It’s as if to say it does not matter what you’ve done in the past if it puts our Premier League status at risk.

Ranieri has obviously got form for meddling too much with tactics, he would not be called “The Tinkerman” for any other reasons and it’s perhaps that lack of direction which has cost Leicester and ultimately his job.

Senior players are reportedly to have met the club owners after defeat to Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday night. With a possible mutiny at the club, it meant that Ranieri’s position at the club almost became untenable.

In my opinion the players have to take a look at themselves and their level of performances this campaign, quite simply they have rested on their laurels knowing that they will always have a Premier League medal in their possession.

For them it’s a case of why try harder when you are already number 1. Well the problem with that is that the world of Football moves to quickly for a club to be stagnant and if you do not evolve you get quickly left behind.

Yes seeing N’Golo Kante depart for Chelsea was undoubtedly a big blow and it’s no coincidence that he looks set to win a second successive Premier League title but perhaps Ranieri will have to take some criticism for the players he signed since the club won the title.

£77m has been spent since last May and of the players that have been purchased none have really passed the test. The hunt for the next Kante has proved somewhat fruitless with the likes of Nampalys Mendy and Wilifried Ndidi added to the club but with little impact so far.

Perhaps too much loyalty was showed by Ranieri to the players that won him the title last season and that has ultimately proved to be his undoing. Had he purchased wiser over the Summer then the club could have evolved like many title winning teams before them.

The loss of Steve Walsh to Everton was also a big blow, he was the mastermind behind the signing of Kante and many others and it seems as if that a failure to replace him and scout the next crop of players has been a massive hindrance.

I’m not sure who comes out of this situation very well in all honesty, it’s not the club and it’s certainly not the players. It seems as if Ranieri will no doubt continue to be humble and will be offered a lot of condolences but it’s an incredibly sad day for Football in this country when a manager can win a league title and 9 months later then be out of a job.