Stephen Kenny's hopes of turning things around at Dunfermline were ended yesterday when the club's board lost patience with the side's dismal league form and decided to replace the 36-year-old Dubliner.
The former Longford Town, Bohemians and Derry City manager had been in charge at East End Park for just over a year and his dismissal comes at a time when his side are second from bottom in the Scottish League Division One, 21 points behind leaders Hamilton, having started the campaign amongst the favourites to win promotion.
Results since the summer have been generally poor but Kenny's position was particularly undermined by a sequence of defeats in late October and early November with Dunfermline conceding 12 goals without reply as they lost to Hamilton, Stirling Albion and Livingston.
At the time the club's chairman, John Yorkston, opted to keep faith with Kenny but Saturday's home defeat by Dundee appears to have persuaded him it was time to act. "The club gave Stephen its full backing and support throughout his tenure but regrettably things have just not worked out the way we had hoped," said Yorkston yesterday.
Kenny, who took over in November of 2006 and almost steered the club away from relegation with a late run of strong results, had never shirked responsibility for this season's problems. Having guided the team to the Scottish Cup final and so into Europe he had been allowed to keep the bulk of the first team squad and expectations were high, something he conceded in the wake of Saturday's loss.
"I'm really disappointed about the way the season has gone," he said. "You would have expected a lot better from us and I am ultimately responsible for it as manager."
It is not yet clear what the Dubliner's next move will be. His wife and young family had only recently joined him in Scotland after seeing out the school year in Donegal following his move from Derry City.
His reputation at home is such that he would be unlikely to be short of offers but he may be reluctant to uproot his family so soon again, even though his prospects of getting another job in Britain will be less promising in the aftermath of his sacking by Dunfermline.
