Former Arsenal manager George Graham says firing Claudio Ranieri was the right "business decision" by Leicester.
Ranieri's sacking has been debated after he led Leicester to the Premier League title last season, but Graham believes it was the natural move because of the team's position in the table.
"For me, there was no surprise when Claudio left the club," Graham told the Daily Mirror. "It was a business decision, pure and simple. It is all very well saying it was unfair. But Ranieri was the manager when they won the league last season and yet they went into Monday night's game against Liverpool in the bottom three. How was that allowed to happen with the same man in charge?
"If he was a CEO in charge of a company that made £5 billion one year but just about broke even the next, he would be sacked. There isn't too much difference."
Ranieri's downfall came after he reportedly lost the dressing room at Leicester -- something denied by the side's players -- and the Foxes responded to his firing by beating Liverpool 3-1 on Monday with one of their best performances of the season.
And Graham, who won the league with Arsenal in 1989 and 1991, said Ranieri and the entire club should have been better prepared to deal with the unexpected success of last season.
"What Leicester should have been prepared for is the reaction to winning the league and they clearly weren't. By and large, they are the same players who won it. How come they are so far down the table? It has to be the job of the manager to make sure that doesn't happen," Graham said.
"I had that at Arsenal in 1989 when we won the league. Suddenly everyone lifts their game against you. Last season, many people wanted Leicester to win the league. Now they want their team to beat them. It was the same at Arsenal the season after we won the league. We were a scalp and when we finished fourth the following year, it was regarded as a poor season. But I freshened things up and we won it again in 1991."
Former Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham defender William Gallas has a different take however, and said the board made the wrong decision in parting company with Ranieri.
Le gros coup de gueule de Gallas sur le manque de reconnaissance des dirigeants de #Leicester envers Ranieri ����⬇️ #LeVestiaire @LCFC_France pic.twitter.com/5bpNmK1Ai9
- SFR Sport (@SFR_Sport) February 28, 2017
"There's a lack of recognition of the fact they were champions, the fact they're playing in the Champions League. We knew it was going to be difficult to finish near the top of the table this season for Leicester," Gallas told SFR Sport.
"Leicester can go up and down, as they say in England. What shocks me is that they sack him now when they have a [Champions League] return leg to play, which means they could still qualify.
"We're talking about Leicester. We're not talking about Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, all the big clubs. The big clubs fire their coaches because they don't get the necessary results, because you have to finish in the top two or three. OK, I understand that. But when you're talking about a club like Leicester, which was nothing before, and then you fire the coach ... I blame the board."
ESPN FC's France correspondent Ian Holyman contributed to this report.