Premier League: Leicester City sack manager Claude Puel

Former Premier League champions Leicester City have decided to sack French manager Claude Puel after the Foxes suffered a third consecutive league defeat on Saturday. Leicester got beaten 4-1 at home by Cristal Palace, recording their sixth defeat in the last seven matches in all competitions. Strangely enough, the only match during that streak in which they managed to avoid defeat was the 1-1 draw against league leaders Liverpool. These results pushed the Foxes down to 12th place in the Premier League table, far away from European football but a comfortable eight points above the relegation zone. Claude Puel leaves Leicester after sixteen months in charge and a pretty good first season. The French boss guided the Foxes to a ninth-place finish in the Premier League in his first season but now it seemed that he was not going to be able to repeat that feat. The club are now looking for their fourth permanent manager in 23 months. Leicester have lost four consecutive home Premier League games for the first time since January 2000. Assistant manager Jacky Bonnevay will also leave the club, so coaches Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will take charge until the club finds a new manager. Leicester will play their next match on Tuesday, when they host Brighton in the Premier League at the King Power Stadium. Claude Puel had signed a three-year contract with Leicester when he was appointed in October 2017, replacing Craig Shakespeare. The Frenchman had made a name for himself as head coach of Ligue 1 side Lyon, before taking charge at Southampton in the Premier League. He was dismissed by the Saints in June 2017, four months before taking charge of the Foxes. He did a very good job at Leicester, considering that he took charge when the team was third from bottom and took them up to ninth place at the end of the season. This season the Foxes won just 9 of their 27 league matches, but did manage to beat big teams like Manchester City and Chelsea. Brendan Rodgers is 4/6 at William Hill to become the next Leicester City manager, while former Huddersfield boss David Wagner is 4/1 to get the job.