Shakespeare departs after four months in permanent role with Leicester 18th following one Premier League win in eight; Michael Appleton in caretaker charge for clash at Swansea
Wednesday 18 October 2017 06:36, UK
Craig Shakespeare has been sacked as manager of Leicester City.
The Foxes have won just once in eight Premier League games this season and the club have decided to part with Shakespeare less than 24 hours after a 1-1 draw with West Brom on Monday Night Football.
The 53-year-old is understood to have been told of the decision in a meeting after taking charge of a behind-closed-doors friendly against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday morning, which kicked off at 11am.
Michael Appleton will take temporary charge of the club for Saturday's Premier League trip to Swansea City, assisted by first-team coaches Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler.
Shakespeare had assisted Claudio Ranieri during the Premier League title triumph in 2015-16 and then succeeded him, at first on a caretaker basis, in February before signing a three-year contract to take the job permanently in June.
The popular coach won his first six matches in charge, including victories over Liverpool in the Premier League and Sevilla in the Champions League knockout stage, and won twice more to ensure safety in the top flight.
"Craig has been a great servant to Leicester City - during his spells as an assistant manager and since taking over as manager in challenging circumstances in February," Leicester City Vice Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha told the club's official website.
"His dedication to the club and to his work has been absolute and the contribution he made to the most successful period in Leicester City history is considerable.
"However, our early promise under Craig's management has not been consistently evident in the months since and the board feels that, regrettably, a change is necessary to keep the club moving forward - consistent with the long-term expectations of our supporters, board and owners.
"Craig is and will remain a very popular, respected figure at Leicester City and will be welcome back at King Power Stadium in future, both professionally and as a friend of the club."
The Foxes spent around £60m on new players in the summer, including £25m on striker Kelechi Iheanacho and £15m on Sevilla's skipper Vincent Iborra, but sold key player Danny Drinkwater and failed to replace him with Adrien Silva by missing the transfer deadline by 14 seconds.
Jamie Carragher and Peter Schmeichel watched from the Monday Night Football studio as Riyad Mahrez's second-half equaliser cancelled out Nacer Chadli's to earn just a sixth points so far and remain in the Premier League's bottom three.
Sky Sports football expert Tony Gale told Sky Sports News on Tuesday that Shakespeare needed the backing of the club's hierarchy and staff, and for his players to step up, "to come through this difficult period".
But it will now be up to someone else to try haul the team out of danger, with Swansea next up on Saturday before Leicester host Everton on October 29, live on Sky Sports.
