Claudio Ranieri Sacked by Fulham with Club in Premier League Relegation Zone

Claudio Ranieri has been fired as Fulham manager following a run of seven defeats in their last eight Premier League games:

Ranieri, 67, replaced Slavisa Jokanovic at the helm in November 2018 but won only three times in 16 Premier League matches.

Fulham confirmed his departure on Thursday and announced Scott Parker as their caretaker manager in a statement on their official website.

Ranieri's dismissal comes a little over two years after he was fired in February 2017 by Leicester City, the club with whom he won the Premier League in 2016—the only top-flight title of his career so far.

The former Chelsea chief failed to rouse players in the same fashion at Craven Cottage and encountered criticism from the club's fans due to his methods.

Fulham suffered a seventh defeat in eight Premier League matches when they lost 2-0 at Southampton on Wednesday, where supporters voiced their disdain to vice-chairman Tony Khan (son of owner Shahid), per Match of the Day:

The west Londoners had lost six league games in a row when Jokanovic was sacked. The Serb had taken only five points from 12 games, but his side managed to net 11 times in that span (an average of 0.92 goals scored per game).

Ranieri clinched 12 points from 16 Premier League games for a superior average of 0.75 points per game, and his side scored 0.93 goals on average (15 goals total).

Football reporter Archie Rhind-Tutt said Ranieri should have been fired before the trip to Southampton, noting the Italian's poor record at Craven Cottage didn't make him a bad manager:

Ranieri was coming into a much different setup at Fulham compared to that of his previous Premier League employers, Leicester. After making a stop at Ligue 1 side Nantes in between, the expectations were a lot different this time around.

Fulham were the 17th club Ranieri has managed in his career, and a win ratio of just over 17 percent stands out as the worst of his club career to date, per Transfermarkt.

That being said, Ranieri has rarely spent more than a few months out of management since beginning his career in 1986—the only year in which he hasn't managed a club since then is 2006. 

It's uncertain as to whether he'll return to England, having seen his reputation tarnished after Fulham sacked him after just three months in charge.