Craig Shakespeare should get the Leicester job, says Paul Merson
Saturday 4 March 2017 20:23, UK
Paul Merson thinks Craig Shakespeare will be given the Leicester job on a full-time basis after leading them to a 3-1 victory against Hull City on Saturday.
Shakespeare was handed caretaker control following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri and he has strengthened his claims to get the manager's job with back-to-back victories against Liverpool and Hull.
Merson, speaking on Soccer Saturday, thinks the 53-year-old deserves the job at least until the end of the season.
When asked if Shakespeare should get the job if he leads Leicester to victory against Sevilla, Merson said: "I think he gets it anyway.
"I think he'll get it. He knows these players and they've responded to him.
"If I own the club and I'm watching from above, I'd look and see that these players are running around for him. If you bring someone else in and the players don't like him you are back to square one.
"I don't know if I'd give him a two-year deal but I'd 100 per cent keep him until the end of the season," the former Arsenal player added.
"These players have worked hard for him and if I was the owner I'd be thinking twice about bringing someone in on big wages.
"The players may not like the new boss and then they are knocking on the door in a few months, and then I've got to get rid of someone else.
"They've done well for this manager. They must like him because they've worked their socks off for him."
Leicester's resurgence has seen them move five points clear of the relegation places and Merson cannot see them going down.
"They are a completely different team to two weeks ago," he said.
"They were in a no win situation because if they lost we'd all be saying they are back to normal and if they win we are saying why didn't you do that for Claudio Ranieri. They worked their socks off and got a result.
"They are now clear of the bottom three and you'd be shocked if they went down from here."
