Had a similar discussion with a guy at work earlier....
Ranieri was an unpopular appointment originally, with many people in and around the game questioning Leicester's decision. What happen last season was simply incredible. The collective sum became greater than the individual parts added together. Their rise from relegation favourites to Premier League champions was Roy of the Rovers stuff and they deservedly won the title, with at times some outstanding football, albeit in a season where the usual expected contenders helped Leicester's cause by shooting themselves in the foot along the way.
This season, Leicester have been mostly terrible. The consistency, quality and team spirit has gone straight out the window. Their debut in the Champions League has been at times impressive, but in the Premier League they look a pale shadow of last season's side. No doubt the sale of a player of Kante's quality would hurt any club, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. This season Ranieri has reminded me of his final season at Chelsea. His thinking appeared scrambled and not helped by a loss of form by most of the first team squad appeared clueless as to what his best team was.
From a business perspective, relegation would be an absolute disaster and clearly the club's owners have decided to act before it's too late. Guess time will tell if whoever they bring in can reinvigorate the squad to turn their fortunes around, but at the moment it's hard to imagine where the next win is coming from.
As a Chelsea and general footy fan, feel for the guy, one of the games great characters. Clearly (like Jose and many other managers before him) let down massively by his players, but in the world of modern mega money football sentiment will always come distant 2nd to protecting finances!
