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Craig Shakespeare sacked by Leicester City after four months in charge

Craig Shakespeare
Craig Shakespeare leaves with Leicester in the bottom three following the 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion. Photograph: JMP/Rex/Shutterstock

Craig Shakespeare has been sacked as Leicester City manager only four months after being given the job on a permanent basis.

The 53-year-old succeeded Claudio Ranieri on a caretaker basis last season and oversaw an upturn in form that led to the club pulling away from the relegation zone and finishing 12th.

But following the 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion on Monday evening Leicester slipped into the bottom three, prompting the owners to relieve Shakespeare of his duties, with assistant Michael Appleton taking charge for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Swansea City.

Leicester’s vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha confirmed Shakespeare’s departure in a statement on Tuesday evening. “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. 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 former England manager, Sam Allardyce, is the early favourite to take over, with Chris Coleman and Roberto Mancini also favoured by bookmakers.

Leicester, who have won only one league game this season, are the second Premier League club to sack a manager this season following Crystal Palace’s decision to replace Frank de Boer with Roy Hodgson after only four games.

Shakespeare was given around £60m to spend on players in the summer transfer window, including £25m for the Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho, £17m for the Hull City centre-half Harry Maguire and £15m on midfielder Vicente Iborra from Sevilla, but Leicester’s only Premier League win came against newly-promoted Brighton in August.

Their only other points this season have been picked up in draws against Huddersfield, Bournemouth and West Brom while Shakespeare also oversaw wins against Sheffield United and Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Monday night’s 1-1 home draw with West Brom saw Leicester’s winless Premier League run reach six matches - the same as when Ranieri was sacked earlier this year.

However, it was not thought that Shakespeare’s job was under immediate threat following a difficult start to the season which brought fixtures against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, the four matches Leicester have lost so far.

Shakespeare said last week that he felt the forthcoming run of games before the next international break in November provided an opportunity to put points on the board and climb away from the bottom end of the Premier League table.

Leicester travel to Swansea on Saturday before a Carabao Cup tie against Championship club Leeds and matches against Everton and Stoke City.