Friday 24 February 2017 09:07, UK
Leicester dismissing Claudio Ranieri is the most shocking decision in 10 years of football, according to Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith.
The club announced they had sacked their Italian manager nine months after winning the Premier League with the Foxes languishing one point above the drop zone with 13 games left.
It was a decision made with a "heavy heart" by the owners say Sky sources, with Leicester set to begin their search for a new man at the helm on Friday.
Smith, Leicester striker between 1982-87, told Sky Sports News HQ: "I'm flabbergasted. We've seen some surprising decisions over the last 10 years but this one tops the lot given his - and the players' - amazing achievements last season.
"You just thought that unless they went down they would stay with the manager that engineered the finest moment in the club's history and the biggest and most romantic story we've ever seen in football.
"I'm just amazed they didn't hold their nerve and stay with their man."
The decision came 24 hours after the Foxes produced an impressive second-half show in the Champions League with Jamie Vardy scoring late on in a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla.
Tony Cottee, Leicester striker from 1997-2000, added: "I can't quite get my head around it. I was at the game last night and they could have lost heavily if things had gone against them but when Vardy got that away goal you're thinking Leicester have got a real chance.
"They lost but that was a good result for them and they'd have been looking forward to the second leg. From that point of view the timing couldn't have been any worse.
"This is like a normal Leicester season - they are normally in the bottom half of the table and they are normally flirting with relegation.
"I don't think it'll go down too well with the supporters. He gave them a season that will never be matched. It'll just never happen again.
"I think he should've been given more time and a bit more respect. Then if they do go down, you say thank you very much and you move on."
It is expected that caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare will take Friday's pre-match news conference ahead of their Monday Night Football clash when they host Liverpool.
Smith believes that Ranieri should not be the one to get all the blame for their miserable title defence this season.
"The fans have got to stay with the team and give the support they did last season and help the side get the points to stay up," Smith said.
"We don't know what has gone behind the scenes and we've heard the rumours about Ranieri not spending time on the training ground and falling out with assistant Craig Shakespeare.
"I don't know if they are true but as always the players have to take a long hard look at themselves. These are the same players that were picked and performed last season - and they just haven haven't done that. It's a sorry situation.
"They can't go rudderless for the next few weeks. They'll need someone on board now - it's such a shock and there may be another shock with who the club name as the replacement."
