MX23RW : Saturday, April 20 05:25:29| >> :120:84486:84486:

Guus Hiddink turned down Leicester City job after Claudio Ranieri sacking

Former Chelsea caretaker boss Guus Hiddink claims to have "said no" to taking charge of Leicester City, but believes that Craig Shakespeare was the ideal choice.

Guus Hiddink has revealed that he turned down the chance to manage Leicester City after they made an 'indirect' approach for his services in February.

The Dutchman has experience of coaching in the Premier League with Chelsea, twice taking over on an interim basis to steady the ship at Stamford Bridge.

Hiddink claims to have been approached to take on a similar firefighting role with champions Leicester, who controversially parted company with Claudio Ranieri after dropping into the relegation mire.

However, the 70-year-old believes that City made the right call in appointing Ranieri's deputy Craig Shakespeare until the end of the campaign, with four wins from four following in the Premier League.

"To be strictly correct, I didn't talk directly with Leicester. But you know how the line goes. 'They think of you...'. They asked not directly but indirectly, but I said no," he told The Times. "If you have decided to sack Ranieri, why don't you go with your number two guy?

"Shakespeare knows the club, knows the players. Why don't you go there, you will see what will happen, I said. Happily I was right. Liverpool didn't know what hit them [in Shakespeare's first game]. Within 20 minutes, 2-0. And five days later Leicester won at Hull. The relegation problem was solved in five days."

As well as transforming Leicester's league fortunes, Shakespeare - brought to the East Midlands by Nigel Pearson - has also guided his side into the last eight of the Champions League.

ID:295130: cacheID:295130:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2804:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Craig Shakespeare watches on during the Premier League game between West Ham United and Leicester City on March 18, 2017
Read Next:
Shakespeare: 'Leicester still not safe'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
2Leicester CityLeicester422841079384188
3Leeds UnitedLeeds43269876344287
4Southampton42259884543084
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4320121166422472
6Norwich CityNorwich432181476601671
7Hull City421811136254865
8Coventry CityCoventry4217121366521463
9Middlesbrough43189166156563
10Preston North EndPreston43189165660-463
11Cardiff CityCardiff43185204860-1259
12Bristol City431610175046458
13Sunderland43168195250256
14Swansea CitySwansea431411185362-953
15Watford431216155958152
16Millwall431311194255-1350
17Blackburn RoversBlackburn431310205771-1449
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth431212195866-848
19Queens Park RangersQPR431211204057-1747
20Stoke CityStoke431211204160-1947
21Birmingham CityBirmingham43129224864-1645
22Huddersfield TownHuddersfield43917174770-2344
23Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds43128233667-3144
RRotherham UnitedRotherham43411283285-5323


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!