Football is a cruel sport, and the beautiful game looked not-so-beautiful with the sacking of Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri on Thursday. The Italian rewrote history in his debut season with Leicester, winning the Premier League title, which was their first, making this sacking look even more ridiculous.
Twitter reacts to Ranieri sacking: Most disgraceful decision in the history of world football
Leicester winning the title last season with big teams like Manchester City and Arsenal in the mix was the best fairytale that the world had ever witnessed. The fairytale has now been turned into a horror show with Ranieri's sacking.
Where is football heading to? While Leicester might not have been able to replicate their last season's form, no one expected the same from them this season. Does Ranieri not deserve another season? Sacking the manager midway when they are still playing in the Champions League is a disgrace to football and Leicester City fans are miffed with the decision.
However, this is modern football for you where success stories are kept in the backdrop and what teams want are results RIGHT NOW. It is time to move on for Ranieri and Leicester City fans, and it remains to be seen who will the club appoint as their new manager.
Here are the five best possible replacements for Ranieri
Roberto Mancini
Italian replacing another Italian? It could well happen for Leicester City as Mancini, who has good Premier League experience is one of the top favourites to become the new manager. Mancini does not have any managerial commitments after he left Inter Milan last year. The no-nonsense manager could be a good and may be the best choice.
Frank de Boer
The former Dutch player had a horrific season with Inter Milan and was shown the exit door by the club after being in-charge for 85 days only. There is no doubt about his pedigree as he was a huge success with Ajax from 2010-16. With Frank de Boer having shown interest in the Premier League recently, he is another serious contender, who is keen to prove his credentials in the top league after failing with Inter.
Nigel Pearson
There are reports, which suggest that the former manager is wanted by some of the present crop of players in the Leicester squad. He knows most of the players in the squad as he has been involved with many of them from their Championship days, but it remains to be seen if the manager will decide to join the club after he had a fallout with the club hierarchy during his time.
Alan Pardew
If the Leicester owners are looking for a manager, who has tonnes of Premier League experience, and someone, who should lift the team from the lower half of the table with his sheer experience, they need not look beyond Alan Pardew. The Englishman has not managed a big team, but the former Crystal Palace manager could be a good replacement as he will not cost as much money like Mancini and De Boer.
Jurgen Klinsmann
The German manager is out of a job since he quit as coach of the US football team. He is regarded as a good manager as Klinsmann was linked for the England job before FA decided to choose Sam Allardyce. Leicester should look at this option closely.
Arsene Wenger
This is really a bold choice, and something, which may not look like an ideal option, for now, considering that the Frenchman is still the manager of Arsenal football club. However, there are serious doubts about his Arsenal future and just in case Wenger is removed as Arsenal's manager at the end of the season and Leicester ropes in an interim manager for 2016-17 season, it will be no harm for Leicester to try Wenger as the new permanent manager.
