Leicester City sack Craig Shakespeare just four months after handing him permanent job

Leicester City have parted company with manager Craig Shakespeare after just four months after he became the Foxes permanent manager after taking over following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri midway through last season.

The 53-year-old signed a three-year contract in June after ending last season on a high and keeping Leicester away from the threat of relegation. This campaign, however, has not started well with the former Premier League champions struggling in the bottom three with just one win in eight games.

The club hierarchy showed that they are ruthless when they sacked the manager – Ranieri - that created history and won them their first league title and have now wasted little time in asking Shakespeare to leave his post as the manager just eight games into the season.

Leicester paid tribute to Shakespeare for his services to the club but admitted that the change was necessary to help the club move forward. The former West Bromwich Albion caretaker boss first joined the King Power outfit in 2008 before spending one season at Hull City between 2010-2011 and then returning to join the Foxes.

"Craig has been a great servant to Leicester City – during his spells as an Assistant Manager and since taking over as Manager in challenging circumstances in February. His dedication to the Club and to his work has been absolute and the contribution he made to the most successful period in Leicester City history is considerable," a statement read on Leicester's official site.

"However, our early promise under Craig's management has not been consistently evident in the months since and the Board feels that, regrettably, a change is necessary to keep the Club moving forward – consistent with the long-term expectations of our supporters, Board and owners.

"Craig is and will remain a very popular, respected figure at Leicester City and will be welcome back at King Power Stadium in future, both professionally and as a friend of the Club," the statement added.

Meanwhile, according to ESPN, the Foxes are looking at Thomas Tuchel as a replacement for Shakespeare, while other reports are also linking current Burnley manager Sean Dyche with the vacant job. Michael Appleton will serve as the caretaker manager in the interim.