Leicester City’s search for a new manager is over.
Eight days passed between Craig Shakespeare’s sacking and the appointment of Claude Puel.
Puel will meet the media for the first time as Leicester boss on Friday, before taking charge of his first game on Sunday, the Premier League clash against Everton at the King Power Stadium.
The search may have lasted a smidgen over a week, but plenty happened in between. Numerous potential candidates, endless speculation, and a conveyor belt of new favourites.
At times, it was a struggle to keep up. We have put together a timeline of how it all unfolded.
After a draw at home to West Brom, with the club 18 in the Premier League having won just one of their first eight games, Craig Shakespeare is sacked just four months into a three-year contract.
Shakespeare oversees a behind-closed-doors friendly at the training ground and is then given the news by director of football Jon Rudkin.
Leicester are looking for their third manager in eight months. Sam Allardyce, Sean Dyche, Carlo Ancelotti, Robert Mancini and Chris Coleman are installed as early front-runners.
Big Sam tells Talksport that he would love to take the Leicester job, just “not at this time”.
“As big a club and as much as I would love to manage Leicester I don’t think it is time for me to manage yet,” he says.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports report that Mancini is not interested either. Dyche emerges as the favourite for the job, and is understood to be discussed by Leicester bosses in talks over potential candidates.
Wales manager Coleman is also believed to form part of the discussions.
The Burnley boss does a fine job in playing down the links to the vacant Leicester job, without actually ruling himself out.
Dyche says he is unaware of any approach from Leicester, but says he is “flattered” by the rumours.
City caretaker boss Michael Appleton says he and the Leicester players were “shocked and raw” following the news of Shakespeare’s sacking.
Shakespeare releases a statement, thanking the owners for the opportunity to manage the club.
There’s a new favourite in town. Former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini sees his odds tumble from 20/1 to 2/1 after a flurry of bets.
Another name makes a slight move in the markets, too. Claude Puel drifts down to 4/1 on the back of newspaper reports linking him with job. Not much money on him yet, though…
Ah. Any hopes that Leicester can go about their search for a new manager unperturbed are dashed as the news breaks that Everton have sacked Ronald Koeman.
Another, bigger, Premier League club are now also in the market for a new boss. What if both clubs want the same man? Dyche is immediately installed as the favourite, as short as 5/4 with some bookmakers.
Another new favourite, but this time it is significant. Puel’s odds fall to as short as 1/8 with some bookmakers that the Frenchman is set to become Leicester’s new boss.
The Mercury understand that the 56-year-old has held talks with Leicester chiefs over who he would like to form his backroom staff if he were to get the job.
Most bookmakers suspend betting on the next Leicester manager, and the Mercury understands that the club are set to announce Puel as their new man.
At 7.30pm, Leicester confirm that Puel is the club’s new manager on a contract until 2020. The owners describe him as the “perfect fit”.
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