Shakespeare penning Foxes' fairytale sequel

LONDON - A relative unknown in world soccer just weeks ago, new Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare now stands on the brink of leading his side into the last eight of the Champions League.

The jocular coach was promoted from his role as assistant manager following Claudio Ranieri's dismissal last month, which he said left him feeling like a "pantomime villain".

But Leicester has won its two games under Shakespeare's stewardship and will attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit in Tuesday's last-16 second leg at home to Sevilla with confidence restored.

"He is a top coach, a top guy and he has taken it on naturally," said Leicester rightback Danny Simpson.

"He has kept it simple and told us what he wanted to do, which was simple and basic, and we've done that, so let's hope we can carry it on for him."

Leicester's players were reportedly unhappy with Ranieri's tactical tinkering as the champion slid towards the Premier League relegation zone, so Shakespeare has gone back to basics.

The 53-year-old has reverted to the starting XI that won the title last season, with January signing Wilfred Ndidi taking the place of N'Golo Kante, now with Chelsea.

Leicester produced a stirring display in Shakespeare's first game, with Jamie Vardy bagging a brace in a 3-1 home win over Liverpool. The Foxes then came from behind to beat Hull City 3-1.

The squad subsequently spent time training and relaxing in Dubai, before Shakespeare was confirmed as boss until the end of the season on Sunday. It is his first full-time managerial role.

The 53-year-old has faced criticism in some quarters for putting his hand up for Ranieri's job, former Arsenal defender Martin Keown branding it "almost out of order".

But Leicester's players and fans have been universally supportive, while Shakespeare himself has been sanguine.

Those closely involved with the club say the good-humored Shakespeare played a pivotal role behind the scenes during last season's 5,000-1 title success.

'Clever and funny'

"Craig Shakespeare is the glue that holds the squad together," Ken Way, Leicester's former psychologist, told BBC Radio.

"He's an exceptionally clever guy and he's also very funny.

"The one thing that got them through and allowed them to achieve the Premier League title the previous season was this incredible fun (and) enjoyment."

A former central midfielder, Birmingham-born Shakespeare had an unremarkable playing career with clubs including Walsall, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion and Grimsby Town.

His former teammates recall someone who listened to instructions with an attentiveness that marked him out as a future coach.

"From day one he was the kind of lad who was going to be a manager," his former Walsall teammate Kenny Mower told the Leicester Mercury newspaper.

He took up a grassroots coaching role at West Brom, rejoining forces with his old Wednesday teammate Nigel Pearson, then Albion's assistant coach, who took Shakespeare with him to Leicester.

Shakespeare followed Pearson to Hull in 2010 before returning to the Foxes with him the following year.

After Pearson's dismissal in 2015 and replacement by Ranieri, Shakespeare stayed put, and the man who shares a surname with England's greatest playwright became a co-author in English soccer's greatest fairytale.

He briefly joined the England set-up under Sam Allardyce, only for its collaboration to be abruptly halted when Allardyce was brought down by a newspaper sting after only one game at the national helm.

Having won his only game as West Brom interim boss, Shakespeare has a 100 percent managerial record.

It seems far-fetched to envisage Leicester going all the way in Europe, although two of the last five Champions League-winning coaches - Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo in 2012 and Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane in 2016 - were appointed during those same triumphant seasons.

The final in Cardiff is a long way off for Shakespeare, but as last season demonstrated, miracles do happen in Leicester.

Agence France-Presse