Firing Claudio Ranieri has sparked a turnaround for relegation-threatened Leicester
Leicester City gave Claudio Ranieri all the time they could. Even as they stumbled and fell into a relegation fight, they stuck with the Italian. But eventually they couldn't stand idly by any longer, so they gave Ranieri the boot to jumpstart their season and get clear of the relegation fight.
It's only been two matches since then, but Leicester have won them both. First, they thrashed Liverpool, then they disposed of Hull.
The result: The Foxes are now five points clear of relegation and up to 15th place.
No longer do Leicester look likely for the drop, which couldn't have been said on the day Ranieri was fired. At that time, they were only a point clear of the bottom three and in arguably the worst form in the league. Ranieri had tried everything he could, changing systems and lineups, then going back to what worked last season, then tinkering in small ways, then trying to establish some consistency. None of it worked and the Foxes' place in the top flight was very much in doubt.
The amazing thing is co-caretaker managers Craig Shakespeare and Mike Stowell haven't done a ton different than Ranieri. They've generally continued on the same path, leaning on an unchanged backline, and Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and Danny Drinkwater, like Ranieri did. They're even in a basic 4-4-2. But Vardy finally got on the scoresheet against Liverpool, Mahrez is getting into space and Drinkwater scored the goal of his life on a terrific volley.
Why exactly Leicester have turned things around is unclear. Simply looking at what the team is doing and what's on the field doesn't show much other than they've played better and won two matches since Ranieri was shown the door. Whether there was dressing room discontent, as has been reported, or the departure of Ranieri was a wake-up call and instilled some urgency in the team can only be known to those on the team, but the energy level and commitment has made the same approach turn into different results since the Italian left. Toss in a fair bit of luck -- Drinkwater didn't connect on an amazing goal because Ranieri wasn't on the sideline -- and you have some points to show from nearly identical approaches.
Regardless of the reasoning, Leicester have to be pleased. Firing Ranieri was extremely painful after a dream season that saw them win the league just nine months earlier. He was their darling, but they needed a change. The results in the two matches since indicate that they got it right in letting Ranieri go.
The problem is it's still early. Two matches is a tiny sample size and next week they play Arsenal, with a Champions League match to follow. It's about to get tougher for the Foxes, and we'll find out just how good they are post-Ranieri. But so far, so good. Anything but relegation is at this point.
