Leicester City are searching for their third manager in the space of eight months after Craig Shakespeare’s brief reign was brought to an abrupt end when he was sacked on Tuesday.

Shakespeare was only four months into a three-year contract when the board decided to act after losing faith following a poor start to the season. Jon Rudkin, Leicester’s director of football, informed Shakespeare of the news at the club’s training ground, where the 53-year-old had overseen a friendly match against a Nottingham Forest side earlier in the day, totally unaware that he was about to be relieved of his duties.

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Leicester are third bottom, with six points from eight games, and Michael Appleton, Shakespeare’s assistant, has been asked to take charge of the team for Saturday’s game at Swansea as the board start the process of putting together a shortlist with a view to making an appointment as soon as possible.

It is understood that no one has been lined up for the post, with Leicester remaining tight-lipped other than to categorically rule out the prospect of Nigel Pearson returning to the club. Pearson was recently appointed head coach of OH Leuven, the second-tier Belgian side owned by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, who also control Leicester.

Names likely to come under consideration include Sean Dyche, Sam Allardyce, Roberto Mancini, Carlo Ancelotti, Martin O’Neill and David Wagner. Much could depend, however, on how difficult it is to prise managers out of their current jobs – something that is likely to rule out any move for Marco Silva, who has made an excellent start to the season at Watford.

Leicester’s opening results have been nothing like as impressive, yet it still came as a shock to players and staff when it emerged that he had lost his job. Having served as Claudio Ranieri’s No2 when the club won the Premier League title in 2016, Shakespeare was asked to take over in a caretaker capacity when the Italian was dismissed in February. He led Leicester into the Champions League quarter-finals and to a 12th-place finish in the Premier League, prompting the club to give him the job on a permanent basis.

The summer transfer window brought frustration to the manager when Danny Drinkwater was sold to Chelsea on deadline day and Leicester were 14 seconds late in their attempt to sign Adrien Silva, another midfielder, as a replacement.

A tricky opening to the campaign, including fixtures against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, hardly helped Shakepeare’s cause but Leicester’s owners still expected more than only one league victory at this stage. Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, the club’s vice-chairman, said: “Craig has been a great servant to Leicester City – during his spells as an assistant manager and since taking over as manager in challenging circumstances in February. His dedication to the club and to his work has been absolute and the contribution he made to the most successful period in Leicester City history is considerable.

“However, our early promise under Craig’s management has not been consistently evident in the months since and the board feels that, regrettably, a change is necessary to keep the club moving forward – consistent with the long-term expectations of our supporters, board and owners.”