Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini and Sean Dyche: Five potential new permanent Leicester bosses
After Craig Shakespeare's sacking, the Foxes board will need to act fast to bring in the right man to stop the rot and beat the drop
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AFTER sacking Craig Shakespeare, Leicester City are now looking for a new manager for the second time in 2017.
With just one league win this season and the club sitting 18th in the Premier League after eight games, it should perhaps be no surprise that the Foxes’ hierarchy decided to pull the trigger.
Especially considering they let Claudio Ranieri go the season after he won them the Premier League.
Shakespeare’s assistant Michael Appleton has been put in temporary charge, but who should the 2015/16 champions appoint as their next permanent boss? Our friends at Football Whispers take a look at the candidates.
Carlo Ancelotti
Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is thought to want a big name from outside the current staff at the King Power Stadium and Carlo Ancelotti would definitely fit that billing.
Sacked last month by Bayern Munich, former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti would like his next move to be a return to the Premier League according to reports, and that could open the door for a move to Leicester.
The Italian has an impressive previous record in England, winning 61% of his games with the Blues, as well as leading them to a Premier League and FA Cup double in his first season at Stamford Bridge.
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In fact, at his last four clubs – Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – Ancelotti has a win record of above 60 per cent.
If the Foxes hierarchy could convince him to move to Leicester, there’s no doubt they would be targeting a return to European football.
But tempting him may be difficult, as the only manager to win the Champions League three times is arguably the biggest name out there without a job at the moment, and he will probably be targeting a team guaranteed to be playing in a continental competition.
Roberto Mancini
If Srivaddhanaprabha wants a big name, he could also go for Roberto Mancini, who already has connections with Leicester having spent time on loan at the club in 2001.
And he’s since admitted he has an affinity with the club.
“Manchester City are my big English team,” Mancini said last year.
“But Leicester are my second. I like English football, you know that.
“I have fond memories of my time there.
“I only played four games [at Leicester] and it was at the end of my career, but we did OK, I think. The English game is fast. It is passionate.”
He has a good record in England too, having won the league and FA Cup at Manchester City.
But the timing might not be right for Mancini to return to the Premier League. He was out of a job between August 2016 and June 2017, when he took the Zenit St Petersburg JOB, and he is surely unlikely to walk out so soon after joining.
Sean Dyche
There’s no doubt Dyche is currently doing one of the best managerial jobs in the Premier League, with his Burnley side sitting seventh – level on points with Chelsea and Arsenal.
He did a great job by keeping them up last season when many expected them to struggle. But this season he’s taken them to the next level with wins at Chelsea and Everton, as well as draws at Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
They’ve been accused of old-fashioned, long-ball football, but that is slowly changing this season too, with their average possession in 2017/18 up from 42.7 per cent last season to 45.6 per cent this season.
Pass completion is also up from 67.8 per cent to 72.1 per cent – they’re starting to play a bit more football than people give them credit for.
It’s clear Dyche believes he’s earned a shot at a bigger club than Burnley but feels him being English could hold him back.
“Antonio Conte came in at Chelsea and he got commended for bringing a hard, fast, new leadership to Chelsea, which involved doing 800metre runs, 400m runs and 200m runs,” he said last year.
“Come to my training and see Sean Dyche doing that and you’d say ‘dinosaur, a young English dinosaur manager, hasn’t got a clue’.”
Leicester’s bigger status and budget could definitely attract him and he’d want to prove his critics wrong by showing that he is one of the most talented managers in England.
Chris Coleman
The Wales boss’s future is uncertain after failing to reach next summer’s World Cup and he could be available with his contract only running for the qualification campaign.
Coleman has done a great job with Wales, exceeding all expectations after replacing Gary Speed and leading them to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
When the likes of Gareth Bale publicly praise him, it’s clear he’s a good manager. The Real Madrid superstar said: “Of course we want him to stay. What he has done for the team and Welsh football has been amazing.
“He couldn’t have taken on the job at a more difficult time and what we’ve collectively achieved since then has been amazing.”
Coleman does have previous managerial experience in the Premier League too, leading Fulham to a then-record high finish of ninth in his first full season in charge at Craven Cottage in 2004.
Sam Allardyce
With Leicester sitting in the relegation zone it’s no surprise to see the former England and Crystal Palace boss linked with the job.
He might even get a recommendation from Shakespeare, who was his England assistant.
Allardyce’s England scandal is unlikely to put Leicester off, especially as it wouldn’t be his first job since the Three Lions fiasco.
He comes with a survival guarantee too, having never been relegated from the Premier League with Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Sunderland and Crystal Palace.
If a fear of relegation is the reason behind Shakespeare’s dismissal, bringing in someone who will ensure top-flight safety makes sense. That man is Big Sam.
