Former Newcastle United and Rangers manager Graeme Souness had some choice words for Leicester City’s players after their recent Champions League victory.
General view inside the King Power Stadium before the match
Despite looking like they were about to drop out of the Champions League, Leicester City channelled their inner-Barcelona last night to beat Spanish side Sevilla 2-0 at home, and progress to the quarter-finals.
Goals from Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton, as well as a penalty save from Kasper Schmeichal, continued Leicester’s remarkable return to form since the sacking of manager Claudio Ranieri.
However, not everyone is delighted to see Leicester City go through, with many pundits and journalists calling into question just why the Foxes players couldn’t have performed as they are now for former boss Claudio Ranieri.
Speaking on Irish TV channel TV3, former Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness accused Leicester City’s Premier League title-winning team of thinking they were ‘big players’ and defended former boss Ranieri in the wake of their progression into the next round:
“Some of those players at the start of the season, all of a sudden, starting to believe they were big players. They thought ‘we’re champions and we’re big players’ and they took their foot off the accelerator,” said Souness.
Former Newcastle manager Graeme Souness
“They got in their Bentleys, sat in their big comfy armchairs and maybe changed their house and they took their foot off the accelerator!”
Many of Leicester City’s big players, such as Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, have come under fierce criticism this season, after their poor performances under former boss, Ranieri. However, scrutiny of the Leicester City squad has increased since their upturn in form.
Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez celebrates with Jamie Vardy
Souness also had some choice words over the managerial situation at Leicester City, as well as the decision to give Craig Shakespeare the job until the end of the season, and the reaction of the squad to this change around: “What does the manager do then? The manager has a go at some of them and points that out to some of them.
“Then he falls out with one or two of the more influential members of the dressing room and all of a sudden he’s fallen out with most of the dressing room.
Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare during training
“That’s what I believe happened and those players that are rejoicing out there and thinking that they’re back, they’ll fall off their perch again guaranteed because they’ve done it once and they’ll do it again. They’ll let you down again.”
Shakespeare will take charge of the Foxes until the end of the season, but his future at the club is uncertain beyond that point. If the Foxes do bring in a new manager though, how will the Leicester City squad react? The future of the Foxes will certainly be staying at the forefront of our focus, that’s for sure.
Former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri
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