Leicester sacks Puel in wake of Palace defeat
Leicester City has sacked manager Claude Puel after a run of one win in nine competitive outings.
In a statement posted to its website, the club thanked Puel for his efforts in leading the team during his 16 months in the role and wished him well in his future career.
Assistant manager Jacky Bonnevay has also left the club.
First team coaches Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will assume responsibility for the senior squad while the club begins the process of appointing a new manager.
Puel paid the price for a recent poor run of form, which yielded just one win in nine competitive outings.
He was sacked less than 24 hours after a 4-1 home loss to Crystal Palace.
Leicester won the Premier League in 2015-2016, achieving the unthinkable under then boss Claudio Ranieri despite being a 5,000-1 outsider with the bookmakers at the start of the season.
Star midfielder N'Golo Kante — so crucial to to that success — was sold to Chelsea during the off-season, and Ranieri was surprisingly sacked in February 2017. The Italian was shown the door after the Foxes had won just five league matches, leaving them languishing a point above the drop zone.
Leicester was also knocked out early in both domestic cups but, under new boss Craig Shakespeare, finished a respectable 12th and enjoyed a quarter-final run in the UEFA Champions League, knocking out Sevilla before a 2-1 aggregate defeat to Atletico Madrid.
The club spent big to bring Harry Maguire, Vicente Iborra and Kelechi Iheanacho the following close-season, but with its Premier League triumph now little more than a midsummer night's dream, Shakespeare was sacked in October having overseen just one league win in eight at the start of the campaign.
Puel, who had previous Premier League experience after a spell in charge of Southampton, was appointed and Leicester enjoyed a revival under the Frenchman, losing just once in his opening eight matches in charge.
The Foxes ambled to a mid-table finish, eventually ending up in ninth, but did enjoy quarter-final runs in both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup..
Tragedy struck this season in October 2018 when beloved owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five people killed in a helicopter crash outside Leicester's King Power Stadium.
The club rallied impressively in the immediate aftermath of the devastating incident, yet Puel soon found himself under scrutiny amid reports of squad disharmony and a growing discord with the fans.
Back-to-back wins over Chelsea and Manchester City, part of three victories during a busy festive period, briefly earned Puel some respite.
However, a shock FA Cup exit to League Two Newport County set the tone for a disappointing start to 2019, Leicester losing six of its past seven in all competitions and failing to record a home win in the calendar year.
The heavy home defeat to Palace, which was met with audible displeasure from those supporters who stayed to hear the final whistle, proved the final game in charge for Puel.