Aston Villa have sacked head coach Dean Smith after five successive Premier League defeats.
Smith, who was appointed in October 2018, helped earn Villa promotion back to the Premier League in his first season in charge at the club.
However, in his third Premier League campaign with the club, a run of five straight losses – the last of which came at Southampton on Friday – has led the Villa hierarchy to make a change.
Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said: “After a good start to last season, this year we have not seen the continuous improvement in results, performances and league position which we have all been looking for.
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“For this reason we have decided to make a change now to allow time for a new head coach to make an impact.”