Northampton Town manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has been sacked by the League One strugglers after their 2-0 defeat at Peterborough on Monday.
The ex-Chelsea and Netherlands striker, 45, arrived on a three-year deal in September, replacing Justin Edinburgh.
A run of three successive wins in January lifted the Cobblers to 18th but they are now two points adrift of safety with five games to play.
The Sixfields side are 22nd and without a victory from their past nine matches.
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“We are sorry to see Jimmy depart as he has worked very hard for us but felt a change at this point was in the best interests of the club,” said Chairman Kelvin Thomas.
“We thank Jimmy for his work as manager of Northampton Town and we wish him the very best for the future.”
Assistant manager Dean Austin will be taking caretaker charge of the first team for the rest of the season, assisted by under 18s coach Jon Brady, with John Pemberton also departing.
Kelvin Thomas continued: “We understand we are in a very tough spot and what the task in hand is, but I’m confident that the players, supporters and staff will all unite behind Dean and Jon for the remaining five games of the season.
“It has certainly been a challenging time for the club, but we need to look forward and put our full focus on these remaining five fixtures.”
Northampton were bottom of the third tier when former Burton and QPR boss Hasselbaink took charge, having lost all four of their league games at the start of the campaign.
