Leicester City

Kasper Schmeichel: 'No truth in reports of player unrest'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 25 February 2017

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel insists that there is "no truth" in claims that player power forced manager Claudio Ranieri out of the club.

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has insisted that there is "no truth" in reports that a number of senior players contributed to Claudio Ranieri's exit from the club.

Ranieri was sacked earlier this week just nine months after steering the club to the Premier League title against 5,000-1 odds amid claims that he had lost the dressing room following a run of five consecutive defeats.

Schmeichel is one of the players alleged to have met with the club's board to discuss the team's form before Ranieri's departure, but he insists that the rumours are entirely false.

"There's absolutely no truth in that whatsoever. We are players and we can only affect (things) on the pitch. What happens above our heads at boardroom level is completely out of our control. All these reports about meetings, I don't know where they've come from. What I can say is our owners are very hands on, they are in and around the club all the time," he told BBC Sport.

"They come to practically every game, they come to the training ground and they speak to all the players regularly. We talk to them about all manner of things from the weather to the pitches to whatever. These guys are very successful businessmen and have taken this club from the bottom of the Championship to the top. They're not going to let themselves be influenced by any players.

"Claudio leaving is obviously very, very sad. We achieved the impossible together and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him for everything he achieved at this club. I have no problem with Claudio whatsoever. As everyone knows, he's a classy guy. He came in and said his piece to the players, thanked us for our efforts and for last season and said goodbye. It's a shame it's come to this.

"You could hear that it hurt him and it hurts the players that we haven't performed well enough to make this carry on. We're in the position we're in because we haven't been good enough, it's as simple as that."

Leicester's first match since Ranieri's departure sees them host Liverpool on Monday night.