Last week saw the demise of a Premier League fan favourite.
Just nine months on from Leicester City’s heroic rise from relegation favourites to Premier League champions, the loveable Italian that is Claudio Ranieri has been sacked.
How is it that Ranieri – a manager who took a team that was almost relegated the season before his appointment to Premier League glory the year after – can be removed with such haste?
It’s a decision that has sparked controversy across the world of football and puts an end to the argument that loyalty still exists in the beautiful game.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that Leicester have been very average of late. But what did the owners expect? That they were going to continue to fly high among the big spenders while spending their Premier League winnings on Ahmed Musa and Onyinye Ndidi?
The Foxes owners seem to have forgotten that their squad of players is decidedly average. Riyad Mahrez is a shadow of the player who was linked to Barcelona in the summer, Danny Drinkwater is having rings ran around him without his mate N’Golo Kante in midfield and Jamie Vardy is most certainly not having a party this season.
The owners have forgotten that it was Ranieri who got the best out of these players, who raised them up and gave them the confidence to go on and create history.
At the time of Ranieri’s termination they were still above the relegation zone and halfway through a Champions League round of sixteen tie, which they are still very much in thanks to a late Jamie Vardy goal in Seville.
At least give the poor guy a chance to see out the Champions League campaign that he orchestrated in the first place. Is a Premier League championship not even worth that?
And Leicester is not the only town in England where loyalty seems to be lost.
Arsene Wenger, who has composed what is arguably the greatest tenure in Arsenal football club’s history, looks as though he will be shown the door this summer.
Arsenal have been consistently hitting below the expectations of a club as good as Arsenal for many years. But again, people forget that it was Wenger that has crafted them to be a club of that stature in the first place.
The Arsenal fans treatment of Wenger has been down right disrespectful.
In the Gunners 3-1 loss to Chelsea two weeks ago, one fan held a banner reading ‘Enough is enough. Time to go’. Wenger Out chants and boos have been a regularity at the Emirates for seasons now.
Claudio Ranieri was shown a similar sort of disrespect.
Obviously the Leicester board’s decision to sack Ranieri was a typically desperate tactic to avoid relegation. But replacing the manager who pulled off the greatest achievement in the clubs history is hardly a way to strike positivity through the club.
This is a time where Leicester’s owners needed loyalty. Instead, they pointed the finger and reacted instinctively when the chips were down.
With the level of expectation ever increasing and the unfathomable amount of money at stake Premier League managers are expected to perform.
Loyalty, however, far outweighs money. Successful managers deserve to be let go with the praise and dignity they deserve, not cast into the abyss like an unwanted toy when things get wobbly.
Loyalty is lacking in football and it’s slowly staining the game.
Thanks Claudio you sparked the imagination of football fans everywhere.
Andy
Guest
I think history has shown that, especially in a competitive league like the premier league, you need a great manager to win it. Be they great for their decades or for a season. Players have to be blamed as well but just as the captain should be blamed for a bad team environment more than a normal player so to should the manger be blamed more than the players.
Mad Dog
Guest
I think most fans of most mid table clubs would accept the offer of a league title followed be relegation over a decade of mid table finishes. I find it pretty sad that Ranieri was sacked after all he achieved. It should also be noted that they didnt really strengthen the squad sufficiently to cope with the extra ucl games so the odds were stacked against him just to finish mid table. Unfortunately, Leicester is just a lower-to-mid table club who grossly overachieved last year and now they dont understand why its not happening again. It was a fluke, a great one at that. Enjoy it for what it is and get back to reality
Garry White
Roar Pro
Good article Eddy. Totally agree with the tone and posted a similar article "Leicester city 3 - Integrity 0" following the Leicester resurgence against Liverpool last night. EPL is all about commerce. Decency and loyalty totally lost..
Fadida
Guest
So if the players are to blame for poor performances then by extension they are the ones responsible for winning the league. This makes the manager irrelevant, so who cares if he is sacked?
Eddy Bramley
Roar Rookie
Exactly, this is why money is ruining the game. It's compromising the loyalty that exists in clubs and ultimately the ones who lose out most are the fans.
Eddy Bramley
Roar Rookie
I'm not questioning the fans loyalty with regards to Ranieri. He is a hero at the King Power and always will be. It's the owners I have an issue with who have cast him out so quickly. It's a disgrace he wasn't given a chance to at least finish the Champions League tie. How typical is it that now the man they wanted rid of is gone the players start playing well!
Eddy Bramley
Roar Rookie
I'm sick of hearing the same rubbish that the players effort and eagerness to win is on the manager. it is absolute nonsense. At the end of the day it's the players that have to go out there and perform. It's the same with Wenger. I agree that his time has come to move on and his tactics are outdated. But surely some of the blame has to be put on the players? Mezut Oil is probably the most overrated player in the league at the moment. And theres plenty of other players who are obviously not prepared to put in the hard work for their manager. Yes Wenger should move on at the end of the season, but let him move on with respect and dignity and lets make sure he's remembered for what he is: one of the greatest managers to ever grace the english game.
Eddy Bramley
Roar Rookie
Agreed. It's all about money these days. Jamie Carragher made a good point before the match on Monday Night Football. Ask any club owner which they'd prefer: get relegated but win the FA Cup and have one of the greatest days in your clubs history or stay up and win nothing. Every single owner would choose the latter because money talks and as long as owners get their pay cheques at the end of the year they do not care.
Fadida
Guest
But if they go down, those loyal supporters of decades of duration will suffer. They are the club. The players themselves will all leave, given they aren't loyal. So who suffers?
John B
Guest
Look, Ranieri's initial brief was to get 40 points to keep Leicester safe from the drop. Then a miracle happened. However in reality Leicester are no better than a mid-table club. Will Ranieri still get a statue in his honour in spite of the actions of the delusional hypocritical owners? Loyalty was in evidence in the match against Liverpool by true Leicester supporters chanting Ranieri's name. However, the damage was done. The players seem to try harder now. I hope they go down.
Andy
Guest
I think loyalty isnt as prevalent in the modern game but i also think that we are looking at history with rose tinted glasses. Football is a profession, its these guys job, i think they show as much loyalty to their company as we would show if we were offered a better job and more money. However your choices of Ranieri and Wenger is strange, Leicester havnt been just dissapointing they have been terrible this season, they have not once looked like they want to win again and this is on the manager, Wenger has been given alot of chances, he seems to feel he holds the same untouchable status Sir Alex did at Manchester but without having won anything or even looked like winning anything for a decade. Wenger has just been to stubborn and should go, if he really wants to continue his experiment do it at a league 5 team or something where he can afford to not be competitive but look pretty.
Square Nostrils
Guest
Blame Jimmy Hill for putting and end to the Maximum wage in 1961, in England at least. Blame greedy clubs some of whom pulled in 60,000 through the gate for paying the players who brought in those fans a pittance, and forcing Jimmy Hill's & the PFA's hand. Blame TV with their money for having more influence around the same time, to help escalate players and coaches wages. Blame FIFA, why not. Loyalty, long gone in Professional football.
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
And surprise surprise Leicester perform against Liverpool. Not sure if that vindicates the decision to move Ranieri or says more about the players who have now chosen to put in a shift.
Fadida
Guest
Arsenal are Groundhog Day. Wenger never buys players to strengthen the right areas. Their already fragile depth is exposed with a mass of soft tissue injuries. They threaten to challenge, fall away meakly, finishing the season with a big winning run when the pressure is off. They make the top 4, get through the group stage of the CL, and for what 8 years in a row are knocked out in the round of 16. They lose the key first leg and when the pressure is off (common theme) win the second to"bravely" go out. The hammerings from Bayern were humiliating. Wenger is not even last year's man, he's the last decades. The board are showing that finances are more important than ambition.
Fadida
Guest
I agree loyalty, and often common sense is gone. The game is so short sighted, knee jerkism abounds (see the Roar articles on the ACL last week for example). However, in the case of Leicester how long does good will last? If Leicester went down with Ranieri, and they are bottom of the form table and sliding towards an inevitable relegation, should they keep him? If they kept Ranieri, who thinks he would be the man to bring them back up? No chance. No one expected Leicester to either win again, or even get a top six spot. Alternately few would have predicted this. He spent a huge amount of money over the summer, and spent it badly. Performances and results have been awful, over a 6 month period. He lost the players. Last season is done, it was a perfect storm and frankly a fluke. Stop the slide or they could go straight through the championship and be stuck in the lower leagues. There is a precedence. When does the loyalty end, after relegation this season or after dropping to league one? I also think that naming the stadium, or the road leading into the stadium after the man who will be the only man to win them the title in their history would be fitting.