Leicester were beaten 4-1 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday
Sunday 24 February 2019 19:49, UK
Claude Puel paid the price for poor results, failing to inspire players or fans, and the style issues at Leicester.
Ultimately, it was Leicester's 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace that cost Claude Puel his job, but this was a sacking that was a long time in the making. He departs with the Foxes as close to the relegation zone as they are to seventh, having gone six games without a win.
Puel handled the traumatic events of October, when owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was among five killed in a helicopter crash at the King Power Stadium, with dignity. But when it came to the football, supporters had long since lost patience with their manager.
Here, we take a look at where it went wrong…
First and foremost, while speculation about Puel's future had already begun last season, this was a tale of a team that had endured a miserable slump in form. Leicester were sitting in seventh after a New Year's Day win at Everton but have since failed to win any of their seven matches in all competitions, losing six of them.
As well as Saturday's collapse against Crystal Palace, that has included a home defeat to struggling Southampton and an extraordinary 4-3 defeat to Wolves with the final kick of the game at Molineux. Most damningly, there was the 2-1 FA Cup third-round defeat to League Two side Newport County. It's a run that would have put any coach under pressure.
That cup result made the subsequent form much harder for supporters to swallow - and the complaint is nothing new. The fans had been left annoyed last season when the Leicester boss left Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez on the bench for the Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester City.
That was repeated this season with Leicester losing again to City on penalties at that quarter-final stage after again resting players, but it was the defeat to Newport that was harder to accept.
With Leicester sat in mid-table, this was surely a chance for the club to target silverware. Watford, Brighton, Wolves and Crystal Palace now find themselves just one game from Wembley and supporters struggled to understand with this opportunity was missed.
All of which might not have resulted in the sack had Puel had a stronger bond with Leicester's most important players. Instead, there was tension, with the club's iconic striker Jamie Vardy and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel both the subject of speculation about their relationship with the Frenchman.
In December, Vardy admitted that Puel's style of play did not suit him, describing the transition to a more possession-based game as frustrating. The former England forward remains Leicester's top scorer with eight goals this season but he was dropped from the starting XI for the recent defeat to Tottenham.
As for Schmeichel, the comments of his father, Peter made headlines earlier this month. "They've got good players," he said, "they just don't have the manager who can get the best out of them. Once that is sorted out we will see them in the eighth to fifth place where I think they belong." It was bad timing for Puel.
Vardy was not the only one who struggled with the transition in style. The feeling was that it did not suit this Leicester team and that is shown not just by the results but the manner of them. Puel's team fared much better against stronger opposition when forced to return to their counter-attacking approach. It was the slow possession-game that was the problem.
In the eight Premier League home games this season in which Leicester have had more than 50 per cent of possession, they have won just one of them. In contrast, they have won three of their five games at the King Power Stadium in which they didn't dominate the ball.
The build-up play was too slow and that meant opponents were able to pack the defence. The game against Crystal Palace was a good example. Leicester had 27 shots but 17 of them were outside the box. No team in the Premier League has had more shots from outside the area at home this season, but the Foxes rank among the bottom six for both shots and touches inside the box in front of their own fans.
It was not easy for Puel to change these things. He inherited a squad that included a number of the title-winning squad who were past their best and on big contracts. The task was to change not just the style of play but complete the transition to a younger more dynamic team and a number of talented youngsters are coming through at Leicester.
It might seem trivial to point to Puel's lack of charisma as a factor in his sacking but the complete failure to articulate this vision to supporters did not help. If he had been able to get greater buy-in then perhaps he might have earned himself more patience and been able to convince people that there was a long-term idea in place.
Instead, Puel never came close to doing that with either players or fans. The timing of the decision is an awkward one for the club, but ultimately it felt like a necessary one too.
