Livingston have sacked their Dublin-born head coach Glenn Whelan after just five Scottish Championship matches in charge.
The former Ireland midfielder was appointed in late May following the Lions’ relegation from the top flight.
After narrowly missing out on progress from the Premier Sports Cup group stage in July, Livi have won two and lost three of their five league games – including each of their last two against part-time pair Arbroath and Stenhousemuir.
Former boss and current sporting director David Martindale has been placed in temporary charge alongside former Preston and Hearts coach Frankie McAvoy.
“After careful consideration and thorough discussions, the club can confirm that head coach Glenn Whelan and assistant head coach Danny Ventre are no longer with the organisation,” read a statement from Livi chairman Calvin Ford.
“In the short term, David Martindale and Frankie McAvoy will temporarily step in as interim coaches assisted by Grant Murray and Brian Potter. Davie’s past success and proven track record in the Scottish Championship made this decision easy, and we look forward to refocusing and finding success on the pitch while he holds this position.
“Looking ahead, we have already begun the process of securing the appropriate search firm to help us find our next head coach.
“Our net will be cast far wider than it was in our previous search, and the focus of the search will be via data analytics that fit in with the club’s game model, and other important criteria that will aid Livingston FC in finding the ideal candidate to lead our club forward.
“Mediocrity is not an acceptable solution, and we will continue to work to find the leader that delivers on the ambitions and aspirations of sustained, high-level success that we expect at Livingston.”