No Ranieri rift despite back-stabbing jibe – Shakespeare

Madrid (AFP) – Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare refuted suggestions he was the background figure working against sacked Foxes’ boss Claudio Ranieri.

Ranieri led Leicester to the Premier League title at 5,000-1 odds last season, but was sacked in February after a disastrous run of results left Leicester tumbling towards the relegation zone.

In his first public appearance since being dismissed, Ranieri told Sky Sports on Monday “maybe it was someone behind me,” when asked if he had been undermined by his players.

Shakespeare was part of Ranieri’s coaching team before taking charge.

“I spoke to Claudio the night he was relieved, he thanked me for my time, he said it was football and that’s my side of it,” said Shakespeare on the eve of Leicester’s Champions League quarter-final, first leg against Atletico Madrid.

“We never had any falling out.”

Shakespeare has masterminded a huge turnaround in Leicester’s fortunes, winning his first six games in charge before Sunday’s 4-2 defeat at Everton.