Soccer

Brendan Rodgers departs as Leicester manager after Foxes slide into bottom three

Foxes were beaten by Crystal Palace yesterday, which extended their winless run to six games

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has been sacked. Photograph: Steven Paston/PA Wire
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has been sacked. Photograph: Steven Paston/PA Wire
Ben Fisher
Sun Apr 02 2023 - 18:27

Brendan Rodgers has been sacked by Leicester City after the club dropped into the Premier League relegation zone following a late defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday. The loss extended their winless streak to seven matches, an alarming run that triggered crisis talks and the end of Rodgers’s four-year tenure.

The club said they have reached a “mutual agreement” with Rodgers, who was under contract until 2025 and becomes the 12th top-flight manager to depart this season. Rodgers, who guided Leicester to the FA Cup in 2021, leaves with the club a point from safety with 10 games to play.

Rodgers was supported by the Leicester hierarchy following a miserable start to the current season, with chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha maintaining belief that the former Celtic and Liverpool manager was capable of turning things around.

It had long been felt that as long as Srivaddhanaprabha was confident of avoiding relegation, Rodgers’s position was safe but defeat and a poor performance at Palace, a relegation rival, prompted the decision that large sections of the fanbase have been calling for in recent months. The chairman said Leicester felt “compelled to take alternative action to protect our Premier League status”.

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Srivaddhanaprabha added Rodgers’s “place in history is assured”. As well as the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2021, Rodgers led Leicester to successive fifth-placed finishes and subsequent European campaigns, including a Europa Conference League semi-final against Roma last season.

Rodgers oversaw an upturn in results before the World Cup but since Christmas his side won just two league matches and a sixth defeat in seven games forced the owners’ hand ahead of games against Aston Villa and Bournemouth in the coming week.

Rodgers’ assistant, Chris Davies, and fitness coach Glen Driscoll have also departed. The long-serving first-team coach Adam Sadler and goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell will take care of training and match preparation. Sadler and Stowell are expected to take charge of Tuesday’s crucial home match against Villa.

Rodgers was frustrated at failing to add to his squad last summer owing to financial fair play concerns but planned to revamp his group at the end of this season after a £30m outlay on three players in January. Youri Tielemans is out of contract and star midfielder James Maddison is expected to be sold.

“The achievements of the team under Brendan’s management speak for themselves – we’ve experienced some of our finest footballing moments under his guidance and will always be grateful to him and his staff for the heights they helped us to reach on the pitch,” Srivaddhanaprabha said on Sunday.

He added: “However, performances and results during the current season have been below our shared expectations. It had been our belief that continuity and stability would be key to correcting our course, particularly given our previous achievements under Brendan’s management.” - Guardian