Leicester's Thai owners sacked Claudio Ranieri less than a year after he masterminded their Premier League title triumph. Here is some of the reaction to the Italian's dismissal.

Jose Mourinho

The Manchester United manager posted a picture of himself and Ranieri smiling, and wrote on Instagram: "Champion of England and FIFA manager of the year. Sacked. That's the new football. Keep smiling amico. Nobody can delete the history you wrote."

Luciano Spalletti

"For Ranieri it's scandalous, unacceptable," said AS Roma coach and fellow Italian Spalletti. "He has to be congratulated. He was the one who created this chemistry in the team and the locker room that made it possible to win the championship. And when you win an English championship against City, United and Chelsea, if you have a little dignity, you even accept to be relegated without touching anything. It should be such a joy to have won that the following year you can accept to be relegated.

"There is no recognition. But it's like that in football. I already know from experience."

Gary Lineker

"After all that Claudio Ranieri has done for Leicester City, to sack him now is inexplicable, unforgivable and gut-wrenchingly sad," former England and Leicester player Lineker wrote on Twitter.

"I shed a tear last night - I shed a tear for Claudio, I shed a tear for football and I shed a tear for my club," Lineker, now a television commentator, told BBC radio.

"It is inexplicable to me, it's inexplicable to a lot of football fans who love the game and I suppose you can explain it in terms of a panic decision and for me a wrong decision and it is very sad."

Steve Claridge

"Must be a better way of dealing with this than the term "sacking", move upstairs, bring someone in to "help", sacking does him a disservice!," former Leicester City striker Claridge wrote on Twitter.

Rio Ferdinand

"Just seen Ranieri news. Shocked after last night display! Wins the league & still not afforded the time to fight for safety. Unreal scenes!" wrote former England and Manchester United defender Ferdinand on Twitter.

Peter Shilton

Former England and Leicester goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who won the Second Division title with Leicester in the 1970s, praised the decision as "brave". "Going down would be a disaster for Leicester and I suppose the board have made a very brave decision. Some people have mixed views, but relegation is on the horizon," he told Radio 4. "If they stay in the Premier League then they've made the right decision. A lot of people will say there's no sentiment in football, look at what he's done for the club... but he's had a lot of the season to get things going."