Leicester City has sacked manager Craig Shakespeare just four months after he signed a three-year deal to take the job on a permanent basis.
The Foxes are third from bottom in the English Premier League and have not won any of their past six league matches.
Also yesterday, Cagliari’s Massimo Rastelli became the first Serie A coach to be sacked this season in Italy.
Shakespeare, 53, succeeded title winner Claudio Ranieri in February, initially on a temporary basis.
After steering the Foxes away from trouble to finish in 12th place, he was given the job permanently in June.
Shakespeare won eight of his 16 games in charge last season, and led the club to the Champions League quarter-finals.
His departure follows a 1-1 draw with West Brom on Monday.
The last time Leicester went six league matches without a victory, Ranieri was sacked – nine months after leading them to the title.
Of their 10 matches this season – eight in the
league and two in the EFL Cup – Leicester have won three and drawn three, losing four.
But they have won only once in the league – a 2-0 victory at home to Brighton on 19 August.
Their four defeats have come against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Shakespeare – a former West Brom player – is the seventh manager in the past five years to leave his job in the aftermath of a match with the Baggies:
Mick McCarthy was sacked as Wolves manager in 2012 after losing 5-1 at home to the Baggies.
Andre Villas-Boas suffered the same fate at Chelsea after a 1-0 defeat at The Hawthorns in March 2012 and, eight months later, his successor Roberto di Matteo departed after a 2-1 defeat at the same ground in his final league match (his final game in charge was against Juventus in the Champions League).
Roberto Mancini was sacked by Manchester City despite having just beaten West Brom 1-0 in May 2013.
Paolo di Canio lost his job at Sunderland after losing 3-0 to the Baggies in September 2013.
Chris Hughton was sacked by Norwich after losing 1-0 to WBA in April 2014.
And Sir Alex Ferguson’s final match in charge of Manchester United before retiring was also against the Baggies – a 5-5 draw in May 2013.
Carlo Ancelotti, recently sacked by Bayern Munich, former England manager Sam Allardyce, ex-Manchester United boss David Moyes and former Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew all figure prominently in the betting markets.
Also among the potential candidates are former Oxford boss Michael Appleton, who had been working as Shakespeare’s assistant, Wales manager Chris Coleman and ex-Man City boss Roberto Mancini.
Also in Italy, Rastelli was eased out of his Cagliari job and became the first Serie A coach to be sacked this season after the Sardinian club made a poor start to the campaign.
The 48-year-old took over in the 2015-2016 season, guiding Cagliari into the Italian top flight after winning Serie B in 2016.
Last season the club finished 11th but this term are trailing in 14th position with just two wins in eight games, against relegation rivals Crotone and SPAL.
“We thank Rastelli for over two years of work with professionalism and passion,” Cagliari said in a statement.
“He was a protagonist in winning Serie B and in reaching 11th place last season, and we wish him good luck for the rest of his career.”
Coaching assistants Nicola Legrottaglie and Dario Rossi were also sacked in the clearout.
Cagliari are on a run of four straight losses, the most recent a 3-2 defeat at home against Genoa.
Former Pescara coach Massimo Oddo and Giuseppe Iachini, who last season managed Palermo and Udinese, are being touted as possible replacements.
