Paul Parker: Ranieri sacking proves football has lost its integrity - one win doesn't change that!

Claudio Ranieri deserved longer. He built the impossible dream at Leicester City, turning survival talk into title talk, but sentiment rarely applies to wealthy foreign investors. A football club is simply a business and the board decided they couldn’t allow it to capitulate.

It’s always easier to sack one person rather than 25, but that doesn’t make it right. The spectators and press have grown to love Ranieri’s immense personality – and one win against Liverpool doesn’t change anything.

Sadly, football is transfixed by a WAC mentality: win at all costs. It’s no different in non-league football – people see the grass is greener elsewhere and they make snap decisions. Of course, these go wrong most of the time. Only a handful of teams can actually win the league and the cups, or achieve their objectives, but owners seem blinded to the fact that one team’s success must mean another’s failure.

Leicester’s squad should feel ashamed. Imagine heading outside in August 2015 and asking someone to name their starting XI. It's obvious they would have struggled. Their squad was a mishmash of journeyman, squandered talent and unknown overseas players – they were complete nobodies.

But after one Premier League title, they’ve suddenly decided they rank amongst the best. It’s ridiculous. They only performed for one season – plus a mini-spurt to stave off relegation the year before – and the best way to prove you’re a deserving champion is to fight again, regardless of circumstance. Leicester haven’t come anywhere near that.

I would never have sought out the chairman with a problem without first going to the manager. If my grievance was with the manager, then sure I would have whinged and moaned to other players, but they would have replied, ‘Paul, we don’t want to hear about your problems’. You have to grow up and get on with it.

I’m fed up of hearing the manager has ‘lost the dressing room’. The manager’s employed by the club, but it’s the players who dictate whether they want him. How can that work? Running to the board is a massive show of disrespect and if you did that in my era, it’s likely other clubs would avoid taking a punt on you.

The match against Liverpool favoured the Foxes immensely. Supporters may have felt aggrieved towards the players prior to kick-off, but a packed King Power Stadium can only voice discontent for so long when a big team is in town. The 3-1 win means little at this stage – especially since they were aided by an awful Liverpool performance who face serious questions about their long-term commitment.

Remember they also dismantled Manchester City at home this season, and that was under Ranieri. We’ve got to judge Leicester on the games without hype. Can they replicate that display against Hull City on Saturday, when the TV cameras are elsewhere? Are they really ready to fight their way out of trouble?

Football is losing its integrity, particularly the Premier League. I mentioned the WAC mentality earlier, but even more important is avoiding defeat. Fear has consumed clubs with so much money involved – and the fans are the ones who are suffering, with grimaces replacing smiles on the terraces. Ranieri earned Leicester a lot of money, not just through the title but the legacy that goes with it, but that ultimately counted for nothing.

If you have a full fixture programme of 10 games, how many good games are you likely to see nowadays? Two? Three? Go to the theatre 10 times and you would expect a good show every time – and if it wasn’t, you would have valid grounds for a refund. The Premier League is consumed by negativity. There’s too many people chasing personal glory, marking each success with a trip to their agent to negotiate a bigger salary. The fun is being sucked out of football – and it doesn’t look like it's going to change anytime soon.

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