Leicester fires Ranieri as relegation looms

Claudio Ranieri, who led Leicester City to the English Premier League title last season, has been sacked.

"The board reluctantly feels that a change of leadership, while admittedly painful, is necessary in the club's greatest interest," said a club statement on Thursday.

The 65-year-old Italian lost only three matches en route to the league champion last season. This season, Leicester has won just five league games.

On current form, Leicester is heading for relegation with 13 games left. It hasn't scored a goal in six league games in 2017 and has won one of its last 10 games in the league.

The team was eliminated from the FA Cup last weekend by third-tier team Millwall, which won 1-0 despite playing most of the second half with 10 players.

Vice Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said: "This has been the most difficult decision we have had to make in nearly seven years since King Power took ownership of Leicester City.

"But we are duty-bound to put the Club's long-term interests above all sense of personal sentiment, no matter how strong that might be."

It said assistant manager Craig Shakespeare and first team coach Mike Stowell will take charge of the squad until a new manager is appointed. Their next match will be against Liverpool on Saturday.

Ranieri has come under heavy pressure in recent weeks. The club qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League with a game to spare in the group stage — it lost 2-1 to Sevilla in the first leg on Wednesday — but even the potential prospect of reaching the quarter-finals of Europe's most illustrious competition hasn't saved Ranieri.