Aston Villa have sacked manager Paul Lambert after their latest Barclays Premier League defeat left them in the relegation zone.
The 45-year-old's final game in charge was a 2-0 loss at the KC Stadium against fellow relegation-battlers Hull City on Tuesday night - their 10th Premier League match without a win.
Lambert's departure comes the same day a local newspaper risked punishment by calling for Villa to immediately axe the Scot with a piece titled: 'Birmingham Mail says: Lambert must go!'
And owner Randy Lerner decided to act with Villa increasingly in danger of losing out on the wealth brought by the Premier League's new £5billion television deal.
A club statement on Villa's official website read: 'Aston Villa Football Club has parted company this evening with manager Paul Lambert.
'First-team coach Scott Marshall and goalkeeping coach Andy Marshall will continue to prepare the squad for Sunday's FA Cup tie with Leicester City at Villa Park.
'The club would also like to place on record its thanks to Paul and take this opportunity to wish him every success in the future.
'The club will announce a new manager in due course. There will be no further comment from the club at this stage.'
Lambert's Premier League record with Villa this season ranks among the worst of the 20 clubs. Their 12 goals scored, six per cent shot conversion rate, 67 shots on target and 36 per cent shooting accuracy ranks them worst in the top flight.
That led the Birmingham Mail to campaign for his sacking by writing: 'Aston Villa is a proud and noble name in English football.
'It is an historic club at the heart of our community, a founding father of the beautiful game.
'But this great club is now on its knees and the Holte End is hurting - and we can no longer stand by and watch that happen.
'Today the Birmingham Mail makes one simple, stark request to the Aston Villa board: sack the manager.'
The sacking comes a fortnight after Villa chief executive Tom Fox insisted the club would not bow to pressure from fans to axe Lambert.
Fox insisted it would be wrong for him and owner Randy Lerner to put all the blame on Lambert's shoulders, and that sacking him would be a gamble no different to 'flipping a coin'.
'When things aren't going well, fans bay for that type of blood. That's not the way that I or the owner are going to make a decision,' Fox said.
'I think football's a funny business and I think to put it all on the manager, again, that's a bit of a false narrative.
'There's a lot of things happening at this football club, and clearly what happens on the pitch is a focal point. Clearly the manager is the one person who can really influence that, so everyone focuses on it.'Our focus for the last couple of months has been on making sure we support Paul to make us as successful as possible, and I think we're heading in the right direction.'
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