Leicester City have announced the appointment of Dean Smith as first-team manager until the end of the season.
The 52-year-old former Aston Villa and Norwich City manager replaces Brendan Rodgers, who departed Leicester in March with the club in the relegation zone.
"I’m really happy to have the opportunity to lead the team during these final weeks of the season," Smith said in a statement on Leicester’s official website.
"If it was something that I thought was unsurmountable, I wouldn’t have come."
— Leicester City (@LCFC) April 10, 2023
The first #lcfc interview with our new Manager, Dean Smith 💬
"The challenge in front of us is clear, but it’s one myself and my coaching team have experienced before and, with the quality in this squad and the number of games remaining, it’s very much achievable."
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | -9 | 44 |
| 13 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -27 | 41 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
38 | -13 | 40 |
| 15 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -34 | 39 |
| 16 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -30 | 38 |
| 17 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -23 | 36 |
| 18 |
Leicester
LEI
|
38 | -17 | 34 |
| 19 |
Leeds
LEE
|
38 | -30 | 31 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
38 | -37 | 25 |
Smith is joined by two assistants from his time at Villa, Craig Shakespeare, who was part of the management when Leicester won the Premier League title in 2015/16 and went on to manage the club, and former Chelsea captain, John Terry.
Smith will be hoping to replicate the escape from relegation he engineered at Villa in 2019/20, when eight points from the final four matches lifted them to 17th and safety by one point.
Leicester’s form since Boxing Day has seen them claim only five points from a possible 45, taking one point from their last eight matches, a 1-1 draw at Brentford.
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Smith faces a tough managerial return on Saturday, when Leicester visit second-placed Manchester City, the division’s top-scoring team with 75 goals this season.
But it may well be the fixtures after that which decide Leicester’s fate, as they face three other relegation-threatened teams in Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Everton.