Martin O'Neill joins Roberto Mancini in distancing himself from vacant Leicester City job

Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill has joined Roberto Mancini in distancing himself from the vacant head coach position at Leicester City.

Former boss Claudio Ranieri, who defied 5000-1 odds to lead Leicester to their historic Premier League title last season, was sacked on Thursday afternoon having failed to arrest an alarming slump in form which has seen the Foxes slide into the relegation zone.

Leicester are now in the market for a replacement and have already been linked to a number of potential successors.

Among them is O'Neill, who won the League Cup with the East Midlands club in 1997 and 2000.

But when asked about what would happen if Leicester were to contact him and gauge his interest in returning, the 64-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme: "I wouldn't be going.

"I'm enjoying the job here (with the Republic) at this moment and we have some big games ahead."

O'Neill was then asked about the possibility of doing both jobs simultaneously.

"I hadn't even thought about it," he said.

"And if that were the case - not talking about myself, but in general if someone were taking time to do two jobs at the same time - I think there would be problems if you didn't get the results on both sides."

Former Manchester City boss Mancini has also sought to dispel speculation linking him with the Leicester job, insisting he has not yet been contacted by the club.

The Italian is currently out of work after leaving Internazionale by mutual agreement last August.

"I have not talked to anyone from Leicester, so that is not true,” the 52-year-old was quoted by Football Italia as saying.

"The team is having trouble, but what Ranieri did last season was incredible. He could’ve taken them to Premier League safety this season too. I’m afraid in England the clubs are picking up some of our bad Italian habits.

"Last year was the miracle, this term things just seem to be going wrong for Leicester. They also lost a fundamental player like N'Golo Kante."

Mancini added that he does not believe Leicester’s senior players turned on Ranieri and complained to the club’s Thai owners about his mismanagement, as numerous reports have suggested.

"I don’t believe the players were actively working against him, as I’ve never seen any player do that,” he added.

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Despite speculation surrounding the nature of Rainieri’s dismissal, O'Neill believes Ranieri's title success had earned the "right" to keep his job to the end of the season at least.

"With the exploits there last year under him, he had the right in my opinion to see it through this season,” the 64-year-old said.

"It is not as if there are three games left and they are adrift - a couple of wins will take them out of trouble. So I think it was a really sad day.

"Leicester won the Premier League last year by quite a number of points, a phenomenal achievement that will not be done again in Premier League history.

"The players took an awful lot of credit for that and in many aspects, Ranieri dropped into the background.

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"It is only two months ago that I voted for him for the FIFA manager of the year.

"I know that there is pressure on, that clubs have to win football matches, how important it is financially to stay in the Premier League.

"But Leicester, while in trouble, were not the only team losing matches."

While the search for a replacement continues, the Foxes have since slipped into the bottom three of the Premier League after Crystal Palace beat Middlesbrough to leapfrog the English champions.

Craig Shakespeare has taken over first team responsibilities for Monday's home league clash with Liverpool and will remain in charge until a replacement to Ranieri is appointed.