Football
PA Sport 7y

Leicester caretaker boss Shakespeare feels like 'villain' replacing Ranieri

Leicester caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare admitted he felt like the "pantomime villain'' after Claudio Ranieri's sacking.

The 53-year-old is in charge of the struggling champions after Ranieri's shock dismissal on Thursday, with the Foxes a point above the relegation zone.

They have lost their last five Premier League games and are yet to score in the top flight this year ahead of Monday's visit of Liverpool.

And, having been asked to face the media after the dismissal of the popular Ranieri, Shakespeare joked about the position he found himself in when questioned about the timing of the decision.

"That's a question for the owners and the club. I've been asked to come along this afternoon and I feel a bit like a pantomime villain sitting here,'' he said.

"I can do nothing about that. I have to be myself. I have worked with some very good managers but I would say I am determined to stay the same.

"I want to be myself because I think people read into that and I think you have to do that in football.

"But I've got to answer your questions. My focus is definitely on the Liverpool game. With regard to the timing of it, I have to respect the owners' decisions.''

Leicester's turbulent season also took another turn when they landed at East Midlands Airport on Thursday after the team were unable to access their baggage.

The squad arrived back from their 2-1 Champions League last-16 defeat to Sevilla but were caught up in Storm Doris, barely allowing Shakespeare to get home before he was asked to take charge.

"We got back to East Midlands and we had problems with the hold luggage so we weren't able to open the hold,'' he said.

"We had to wait at a local hotel and by the time I'd got home I received a phone call maybe 10 minutes before the news broke from the director of football, Jon [Rudkin], asking me to take caretaker charge.''

And he dismissed suggestions the players had been distracted following new big-money contracts and the award of sports cars by the owners following their title win last year.

"It's always a Catch-22 situation. If you don't reward them, people would go other places. We would have lost very good players. So the club itself was in a Catch-22 situation,'' said Shakespeare.

"Nowadays we look at the other clubs and the money they've spent, I'm sure we're not on the budget of some of them. But you know what, we deserved to win the league last year and we won it by 10 points in the end.''

Shakespeare had worked with Ranieri since the Italian was appointed at the King Power Stadium in 2015 and admitted his exit was a sad day for the sport.

He added: "Yes football has gone this way a bit. You don't get much time nowadays, and this is somebody who has won the league. But ultimately I have to respect the owners' decision, they are doing what they think is best for the football club.''

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