Masterminding one of the greatest upsets in sporting history was not enough for Claudio Ranieri to keep his job at Leicester City.
Ranieri was fired by Leicester on Thursday, nine months after the 65-year-old Italian manager guided the club to the Premier League title at pre-season odds of 5,000-1.
Leicester’s Thai owners took the drastic measure with soccer’s ultimate fairytale threatening to have an unhappy ending.
In a dreadful title defense, the team is one point and one place above the relegation zone and in serious danger of losing its status in the world’s most lucrative league.
“We are duty-bound to put the club’s long-term interests above all sense of personal sentiment,” Leicester vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said. “No matter how strong that might be.”
On current form, Leicester are heading for relegation with 13 games remaining.
They have not scored a goal in six league games this year and have won one of their past 10 games in the league.
The team were eliminated from the FA Cup at the weekend by third-tier Millwall, who won 1-0, despite playing most of the second half with 10 men.
“His status as the most successful Leicester City manager of all time is without question,” a long club statement said of Ranieri. “However, domestic results in the current campaign have placed the club’s Premier League status under threat and the board reluctantly feels that a change of leadership, while admittedly painful, is necessary in the club’s greatest interest.”
Leicester, with a team of journeymen, cast-offs and previously unheralded players, won the Premier League by 10 points, a feat widely viewed as one of the greatest in all sports.
Ranieri last month was voted as FIFA coach of the year and the Leicester story captured the hearts of the sporting world and beyond.
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