Leicester City Football Club announced on Sunday night that they had parted company with manager Peter Taylor.
Following the announcement, chief executive of the League Manager's Association John Barnwell made the following statement:
"Peter Taylor's Premiership dismissal is extremely disappointing so early in the season.
"He is the 7th manager to be dismissed this season. It is indicative of the intensity for success that now prevails in football and in the FA Barclaycard Premiership in particular.
"Whilst it comes as no surprise, as the pressure Peter has been under has been well documented, he nevertheless comes out of this with immense credit for the manner in which he has handled himself."
With the Filbert Street club sitting on the bottom of the FA Barclaycard Premiership, the Foxes had gained just one point in the last four league matches, with their total points haul of amounting to five from a possible 24.
The difficult start to the season followed a disappointing end to the previous campaign, which saw Leicester lose ten of their last eleven Premiership fixtures.
The departure of Martin O'Neill to Celtic paved the way for Taylor to take over as manager of the Foxes in June 2000 after a successful spell at Gillingham and he was hugely successful in his first few months with the club, taking The Foxes to the top of the Premiership early in the season.
The former England under-21 coach took on the Leicester job at the same time as a brief spell as joint caretaker manager of England with current Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren, but he decided to end his association with the national team after Leicester's results began to falter.
Leicester chairman John Elsom expressed his regret at the decision he and the club had taken but explained his reasons behind it.
"It is a decision we have taken with a great deal of regret," he said.
"In our first season after the departure of Martin O'Neill we finished a very creditable 13th position.
"However, after our opening eight games of this season we find ourselves with only five points and bottom of the table."
"This is possibly the single most important season in the club's history with us due to move into our new stadium in August 2002," he added.
"This decision has been taken to maximise our ability to safeguard our Premiership future. I and everyone at the club would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Peter and his staff for all their efforts over the past 16 months."
The contracts of football co-ordinator Colin Murphy and first-team coach Steve Butler have also been terminated. Coach Garry Parker and goalkeeper Tim Flowers will take temporary charge of team affairs as the club searches for a full-time replacement for Taylor.
Former West Ham United manager Harry Redknapp, currently Director of Football with Portsmouth, is believed to be in the frame for the vacant post and John Elsom has announced that a short-list of candidates will be drawn up this week. |
