Leicester need to be smart over their next managerial appointment or they will become the ‘mid-table Chelsea’, former Blues striker Tony Cascarino believes.
The Foxes made the decision to axe Claude Puel on Sunday, ending his 16-month reign in charge after a 4-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace.
It was Leicester’s fifth defeat in their previous six matches and leaves them down in 12th, with Puel recording the lowest win percentage of any Foxes manager since Paulo Sousa at the start of the decade.
The Frenchman follows Claudio Ranieri and Craig Shakespeare in being shown the door since Leicester’s remarkable title triumph in 2015/16, with the club establishing themselves mid-table in the seasons since.
Early reports claim Leicester will hire an interim manager now before working on a permanent appointment throughout the summer, with Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, said to be the club’s prime target.
Rodgers has been consistently linked with a return to the Premier League over the past couple of years, and it could be considered something of a coup for Leicester to hire the former Liverpool boss.
However, if he is hired and it all goes wrong, the Foxes will have to show another manager the door in what is becoming a familiar occurrence at the King Power Stadium.
And if this does happen, Cascarino believes Leicester will start to get the reputation of being a ‘mid-table Chelsea’ – a club famed for sacking coaches.
“In some ways it feels like we have been waiting for Leicester to sack Claude Puel since the day he took over,” Cascarino writes in his Times column. “It never felt like a good fit; a manager tied to a pragmatic style in charge of a squad of players who fit in different systems and some big personalities.
“Leicester need to be clever with their next choice — Brendan Rodgers deserves another shot at the Premier League — as they could become a mid-table Chelsea, always hiring and firing managers.”
First-team coaches Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler have taken temporary charge of Leicester following Puel’s dismissal, with the Foxes hosting Brighton on Tuesday evening.