Claudio Ranieri left Leicester's players 'baffled' by butter rampage

According to a report in The Times, Leicester's players were left shocked after they returned to the dressing room following a rare away win to find former manager Ranieri hurling butter into the bin

Ranieri was less than impressed with the butter offered to his squad (Getty)

Leicester City players were left amazed earlier in the season when they returned to their dressing room after a rare away win to find then manager Claudio Ranieri hurling butter into the bin, according to reports.

Ranieri was sacked by Leicester after their 2-1 defeat to Seville in the Champions League, just nine months after he led them to the Premier League title.

The Italian reportedly lost the confidence of several of his senior players in his second season at the club and left many nonplussed with a newfound obsession with his players’ diets.

This culminated in Ranieri raiding a table of snacks that had been laid out for his squad at one away match and throwing several knobs of butter into the bin, according to The Times.

Leicester’s players were reportedly amazed to return to the away dressing room at full-time to find Ranieri raiding the snacks table, rather than celebrating their victory.

Ranieri was dismissed 298 days after lifting the Premier League (Getty)

The club won just two away matches under Ranieri in his second season at the club prior to his dismissal. They beat Club Brugge 3-0 in the Champions League in September and a brace from Ahmed Musa saw them defeat Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park, in the FA Cup.

Ranieri’s approach to health and nutrition in his crisis-plagued second campaign at the King Power Stadium contrasts starkly with the club’s title-winning season, when he rewarded his team with fast food whenever they managed to keep a clean sheet.

"I want to buy pizza but my players don't want pizza, maybe they don't love pizza," Ranieri said last season after his club beat Aston Villa 3-2.

"Because I said when we make a clean sheet, I will buy everybody a pizza. Maybe they wait until I say 'Okay, a good dinner'.

"I told them, the clean sheet, I buy everybody a pizza. I think they wait until I improve my offer, okay a pizza and a hot dog."