Claudio Ranieri does not believe Leicester City’s players conspired to get him the sack as manager, he said on Monday, reflecting publicly for the first time on his controversial dismissal in February.
The Italian helped write one of the great chapters in soccer history by leading the 5,000-1 outsiders to the Premier League title last season but was sacked nine months later amid a poor campaign and media speculation that his under-achieving players had been involved in moves to oust him from the job.
“I cannot believe that my players killed me. No, no, no,” Ranieri told Sky Sports in his first major interview since Leicester’s board sacked him and brought in his assistant Craig Shakespeare, who has since inspired a revival.
Instead of player power being behind his dismissal, Ranieri felt that other problems might have been responsible for the team’s slump, including the distractions of new-found fame and fortune.
Asked about reports that the players were involved in his sacking, Ranieri, 65, replied: “No, I can’t believe it.
“The players maybe didn’t give their maximum because there were other problems.
“Other problems could be that when they were here before they earned a little less, and after that they earned double or triple.
“When you come back in pre-season when you have won the title, you go around the world, you go to America to play against big teams for the first time in your life… the situation is totally different.”
