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HankMarvin

A poisoned chalice?

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Leicester have cut ties with another component of their Premier League title win with the sacking of manager Craig Shakespeare.

The 53-year-old lasted only four months as permanent boss, following title winner Claudio Ranieri in being ruthlessly cut adrift by the club's owners.

Shakespeare has paid the price for a poor start to the season but, for a club who just 17 months ago were living the dream, how has it come to this?

No credit in the bank, no track record - anything but a shock sacking

The element of surprise that comes with a managerial sacking in the Premier League has long since been removed - even Frank de Boer's departureafter only four league matches in charge of Crystal Palace carried an air of inevitability, despite many seeing it as an injustice.

And while Leicester's decision to dismiss Shakespeare after eight league games of the season will raise eyebrows once more, history tells us no-one should be shocked by the latest turn of events at the King Power Stadium.

If a universally popular manager and personality such as Claudio Ranieri can be sacked nine months after producing arguably the greatest story in British sporting history by guiding Leicester to the Premier League title, then all bets are off when it comes to measuring the job security of any successors.

Ranieri had won only five of his first 25 league games last season, and stood just one place above the relegation zone when the end came in February for a man who had, and has, written his name in the club's - and football's - history.

 

The problem for Leicester's owners comes from having had that intoxicating taste of life at the top table - while you do not expect to dine there again, it makes it even more difficult to settle for life with your nose pressed up against the window

Shakespeare had none of that credit in the bank. For all the claims that he was the brains behind the stunning operation that brought title glory to Leicester, he had no track record of managerial success to fall back on. Ranieri was the manager, Shakespeare merely his sidekick.

Ranieri had taken Leicester to the last 16 of the Champions League, but that counted for nothing when the club's Thai owners came to the conclusion that they were facing the ignominy of following a title with relegation.

They acted and were rewarded as Shakespeare, pulling together a squad many felt had stopped playing for Ranieri, took Leicester to safety.

The owners demonstrated their single-minded ruthlessness, especially when the thought of Championship football strayed into their consciousness.

It seems clear they feared Shakespeare may lead them into similarly dangerous territory so he has suffered the same fate as Ranieri. No shock to the system given their track record and treatment of the Italian.

Shakespeare was forced to defend his players, and possibly himself, when Ranieri said: "I can't believe my players killed me. No, no, no.

"Maybe it was someone behind me. I had a little problem the year before and we won the title. Maybe this year, when we lose, those people push a little more."

Ranieri did not elaborate on who the figures behind him were - but Shakespeare certainly knew the price on the ticket when he was confirmed as Leicester's permanent manager in June.

Because he was there in the background when it happened to the amiable Ranieri, he will have known failure, or at least the very idea of struggle, would not be tolerated. He had seen the warning signs at very close quarters.

And now he has paid the same price as Ranieri.

Craig Shakespeare

Claudio Ranieri hinted that problems within the club led to his sacking, but he never publicly apportioned blame to Shakespeare, his assistant

A title legacy in tatters, the dream team dismantled

Shakespeare's sacking pushes the memory of Leicester's title triumph - and the team behind it - even further into the past.

The historic campaign was held up as the perfect model of how to fashion success in the modern game in terms of management, coaching and recruitment.

Ranieri, to use an old Brian Clough turn of phrase, was in the shop window but assistant managers Shakespeare and Steve Walsh, who was also head of recruitment, were regarded as the goods in the back.

Shakespeare was seen as the safe hands behind Ranieri while Walsh's scouting network and eye for a deal was reflected in the arrival of Jamie Vardy from Fleetwood for £1m in May 2012, the £400,000 deal with Le Havre in 2014 for the now £50m-rated Riyad Mahrez, and the capture of N'Golo Kante from Caen for about £6m in 2015.

Walsh and Shakespeare signed new deals as part of a long-term structuring in May 2016 as Leicester were touted as the example for any club outside the top six to follow.

Walsh explained the approach when he told BBC Radio 5 Live: "If you just needed to get all the best players, scouting would be easy, wouldn't it? You've got to look at the players maybe through different eyes and see what they can achieve. That's the skill.

"We have a DNA. For me, it's not just about their ability on the ball. It's what they're prepared to give to the team when they haven't got it."

The words were plucked from Leicester's supposedly ideal world at the time - but Walsh left shortly afterwards to join Everton as director of football, and Ranieri and Shakespeare have since been sacked.

Leicester's title win was always going to be a dream season - but the dream team has fallen apart quicker than anyone could possibly have predicted.

Premier League records of Leicester's managers since the club's Thai owners took control
Manager Games Win %
Nigel Pearson 38 28.9
Claudio Ranieri 63 44.4
Craig Shakespeare 21 38.1

A poisoned chalice and destined to fail?

When Shakespeare took charge of his first game as Leicester's interim manager against Liverpool on 27 February, it was as if the clock had been turned back to the title-winning season.

Those players who had done a disappearing act in the league in the final months of Ranieri's time at the club were miraculously restored as Liverpool were overrun and beaten 3-1 on a night when the King Power Stadium gave Shakespeare a warm welcome and also showed its appreciation of the sacked Ranieri.

Vardy was the pacy threat of old, Mahrez the mercurial maverick, and normal solid service was restored in Leicester's defence.

A Champions League win over Sevilla to reach the last eight, where Leicester were beaten by Atletico Madrid, underlined the impression that the Foxes of recent vintage had returned with their former manager's sacking.

Leicester finished in a comfortable 12th position, 10 points off relegation, but Ranieri's success left Shakespeare holding a poisoned chalice.

While no-one seriously expected a repeat of 2015-16, expectations were rightly raised. The top 10 was a realistic ambition, and once Leicester dropped below that line - they are 18th with a meagre six points from eight games - Shakespeare was always in trouble.

Perhaps he was fighting against odds he could never overcome. Perhaps Leicester have simply reverted to what they were before that footballing freak of a season which saw a team rated 5,000-1 for the title pick up such unstoppable momentum no-one could catch them.

It takes an almost impossible leap of the imagination to believe any Leicester manager will ever again achieve what Ranieri did. The bar he set for any successor will always be too high.

The added problem is players such as Kante and Mahrez can achieve that again - but they will not do it at Leicester, so inevitably seek the possibilities elsewhere, another difficulty Shakespeare has had to confront. Kante did exactly that, and his move to Chelsea yielded a second title in two years.

Leicester's owners may be ruthless but they are also realistic.

The problem comes with having that intoxicating taste of life at the top table - while you do not expect to dine there again, it makes it even more difficult to settle for life with your nose pressed up against the window.

And Shakespeare is the latest to feel that cold reality.

A mitigating factor: A deadline-day fiasco

Leicester's owners demonstrated their willingness to back Shakespeare in the transfer market when they paid £17m for Hull defender Harry Maguire, who recently made his England debut in Lithuania, and £25m for Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho.

It looked like a bold move to push the Foxes on from the disappointment of last season - but Leicester's, and more specifically Shakespeare's, plans were holed below the waterline by a farcical final day of the August transfer window.

Danny Drinkwater, a key component of the title-winning side, was sold to Chelsea for £35m - but a replacement was already in the pipeline in the shape of Sporting Lisbon's Adrien Silva, all set to complete a £22m move.

Or so Shakespeare thought.

Leicester's deal-makers contrived to miss the deadline by 14 seconds,meaning the move was not finalised with Fifa, leaving Silva in limbo and Shakespeare without what he believed was a key midfield addition.

An appeal fell on deaf ears and, while this may not have been decisive in shaping Shakespeare's fate, he has every right to wonder what difference the talented Portugal midfielder might have made.

It was a twist of fate that was none of Shakespeare's doing - and one mitigating factor in his failure.

Without Silva and, now, without the manager who attempted to sign him, Leicester find themselves in further reduced circumstances.

It all seems an age since that glorious day on 7 May 2016 when Ranieri led Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli to the centre circle at the King Power Stadium and the Foxes swept away Everton with ease before receiving the Premier League trophy.

 
 
 
"We have a DNA. For me, it's not just about their ability on the ball. It's what they're prepared to give to the team when they haven't got it."
 
How true that was
 
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7 hours ago, Walkers said:

Its amazing even those supposedly high up in journalism circles still think our owners and fans require a minimum top 4 finish or some shit

They weren't saying that. Top ten was suggested. Weren't you reading?

And rightly so. Many of this forum have stated we could make top 8 this season.

 

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You didn't have to quote verbatim the article by McNulty.

 

I'm not so certain that it is a "poisoned chalice". Yes, it will need to take a experienced manager who can properly manager players many of whom appear to have lost the plot. Shakespeare was no experienced manager but merely a good coach and therein lies the problem since Claudio was sacked.

 

Had the owners had a bit more nous they would know there is a massive difference between the two roles, added to which they should realise there is a serious problem in the recruitment of players. It doesn't need me to list the players who have failed or proved to be worthless, the list is endless.

 

So, we are not a lost cause as many suggest but the owners need to recognise the in-house problems and deal with them in an efficient and effective way and if that means a wholesale clear out so be it. Remember, we are still a Premiership Club!!

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It isn't necessarily a poisoned chalice however we are in a difficult situation where Claudio achieved the impossible with us so where do you go next? I don't feel the owners are unrealistic but as a fan do I really want the best we can achieve to survive ala West Brom year after year?

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Quite clear to me that we're not an attractive proposition for managerial candidates right now. Sacked the last 3 managers in questionable circumstances, board level staff are clearly incompetent. Anyone that comes in will be constantly compared to the 2015-16 season. Fan base is by and large, deluded, with the mentality that we now somehow have the right to consistent top 10 finishes, and that we should be going for Europe again in the immediate future. A relatively weak squad, ageing back 4, midfield is all over the place and no recognised strike partnership. 

 

Oh, and clappers. 

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Just now, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Quite clear to me that we're not an attractive proposition for managerial candidates right now. Sacked the last 3 managers in questionable circumstances, board level staff are clearly incompetent. Anyone that comes in will be constantly compared to the 2015-16 season. Fan base is by and large, deluded, with the mentality that we now somehow have the right to consistent top 10 finishes, and that we should be going for Europe again in the immediate future. A relatively weak squad, ageing back 4, midfield is all over the place and no recognised strike partnership. 

 

Oh, and clappers. 

Is that really true?

 

Pearson was sacked after the Thailand scandal.

 

Ranieri was sacked because he had the Champions playing unimaginably bad football, 0 goals in 6 games or something close.

 

Shakespeare was sacked because we're in the relegation zone and we've had 1 win from 11 league games.

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1 minute ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Quite clear to me that we're not an attractive proposition for managerial candidates right now. Sacked the last 3 managers in questionable circumstances, board level staff are clearly incompetent. Anyone that comes in will be constantly compared to the 2015-16 season. Fan base is by and large, deluded, with the mentality that we now somehow have the right to consistent top 10 finishes, and that we should be going for Europe again in the immediate future. A relatively weak squad, ageing back 4, midfield is all over the place and no recognised strike partnership. 

 

Oh, and clappers. 

Maguire/Chilli/and Drago could make this so much younger though.

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12 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Is that really true?

 

Pearson was sacked after the Thailand scandal.

 

Ranieri was sacked because he had the Champions playing unimaginably bad football, 0 goals in 6 games or something close.

 

Shakespeare was sacked because we're in the relegation zone and we've had 1 win from 11 league games.

Or: 

Pearson was sacked because of something that was out of his control completely

Ranieiri was sacked 8 months after winning the Prem

 

Shakespeare was sacked after a tough run of fixtures and individuals letting him down

 

All six points we made are true but depends which way you look at it. 

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think it’s a superb gig for most managers tbh. we’ve got a lot of very good players they just need someone to put them together to become a very good team. we’ve also got what, 8 or 9 very winnable games in the next few months, probably a chance to go reasonably far in the league cup and you’d imagine for this season the main aim is now to just stay up. 

 

ill do it. 

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20 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Or: 

Pearson was sacked because of something that was out of his control completely

Ranieiri was sacked 8 months after winning the Prem

 

Shakespeare was sacked after a tough run of fixtures and individuals letting him down

 

All six points we made are true but depends which way you look at it. 

Tbf with Pearson we don't know his stance after his son ****ed up. And the statement about Shakespeare seemed to be firmly in the "not about results but that we're not seeing a direction that thr club will head when it hits a softer run", so tough fixtures doesn't wash.

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Its machevelian. ... any new manager knows what to expect from the owners.

But turning that arround any manager coming in would need to ensure that they are masters of their own destiny.  Shakey was not in a strong position when hired.

Sure it may be his lack if toughness when dealing with the class of 15/16... or his tactics...  his caution.   But loosing drinky sealed it for me... having to massage mahrez.... trying to make pl players out of iheancho slim musa etc.

 

We have an aging vardy... error prone kasper .. .. we seem to be at square one with some signings.  A thin squad.  And we have not nurtured the support functions at the club    Anyone taking the job should ask for a first class dof and a reorganised scouting tean with budget.  

Yes shakey came up short in some areas.... but he was "set up to fail"... not intentionally... but he was and the club must change if this cycle is not to be repeated again

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26 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

Tbf with Pearson we don't know his stance after his son ****ed up. And the statement about Shakespeare seemed to be firmly in the "not about results but that we're not seeing a direction that thr club will head when it hits a softer run", so tough fixtures doesn't wash.

OK, then take the second point. If Vardy had scored that sitter at Huddersfield and Mahrez put that chance away Monday night, and we had gone on to win both, would he have got the sack with us being in 10th place with 10 points? Even more simple, would he have got the boot if Mahrez had scored Monday night and we won 1-0? 

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2 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

OK, then take the second point. If Vardy had scored that sitter at Huddersfield and Mahrez put that chance away Monday night, and we had gone on to win both, would he have got the sack with us being in 10th place with 10 points? Even more simple, would he have got the boot if Mahrez had scored Monday night and we won 1-0? 

Shakes would still be here.

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23 minutes ago, norwichfox said:

Avram Grant is available, and could probably add poison to the Chalice.... :( maybe he could get something worthwhile out of Amartey

Carey Grant would be a more attractive proposition to Avram.

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2 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Quite clear to me that we're not an attractive proposition for managerial candidates right now. Sacked the last 3 managers in questionable circumstances, board level staff are clearly incompetent. Anyone that comes in will be constantly compared to the 2015-16 season. Fan base is by and large, deluded, with the mentality that we now somehow have the right to consistent top 10 finishes, and that we should be going for Europe again in the immediate future. A relatively weak squad, ageing back 4, midfield is all over the place and no recognised strike partnership. 

 

Oh, and clappers. 

I think with the investment made we should be targeting top 10 finishes.  What's so delusional about that?

 

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Its a great job for an experienced manager, its clear we have talent in that team, all it needs is someone to go in and demand respect and get them firing again. If the job "isn't attractive" due to the hard work needed to be done, then that's the sort of person we should be avoiding. 

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