Vardy: Reports of Ranieri rift 'extremely hurtful'
Following teammates' messages of support for ousted Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, Jamie Vardy belatedly joined the party with carefully chosen words of his own.
The struggling English striker wrote on Instagram two days after Ranieri's dismissal that he owes the affable Italian his "eternal gratitude" for believing in him when no one else would.
Vardy also rubbished reports suggesting the squad forced out Ranieri, calling speculation "extremely hurtful."
The likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Riyad Mahrez, Danny Simpson, and newcomers Wilfred Ndidi and Islam Slimani led a parade of tributes after an eerie silence from the Leicester camp in the immediate aftermath of Ranieri's sacking.
The Leicester chairman met with key players after a midweek Champions League loss before deciding to part ways with Ranieri, reports BBC Sport.
It has fuelled sentiment that Vardy and Co. staged a mutiny to fire the man who brought them a dream.
Before Vardy's announcement, both Schmeichel and caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare denied talk of unrest, and distributed the blame evenly.
"There's absolutely no truth in that whatsoever," the Danish goalkeeper said. "We are players and we can only effect on the pitch and we haven't done that. What happens above our heads at boardroom level is completely out of our control."
One of several senior starters to suffer a massive downturn in form this season, Vardy scored 24 Premier League goals as Leicester made an unlikely ascent to the Premier League summit.
He has just five league tallies this term.