• Former manager refuses to blame his Leicester players • Ranieri says it was difficult to motivate his championsClaudio Ranieri has offered a passionate defence of his former Leicester City players, denying they forced him out. Ranieri was sacked in February, less than a year after transforming a team of 5,000-1 outsiders into Premier League champions and, following his exit, rumours of a dressing-room mutiny were rife. “I don’t believe rumours the players spoke to the Leicester owners about sacking me. “Leicester will be in my heart for all of my life because I won something in Europe, but never the title. “This time, with Leicester we won the title and the fans, with me, in my heart.

Source: The Guardian April 10, 2017 19:16 UTC