Ross County have sacked manager Stuart Kettlewell following the Staggies’ 2-0 loss to Hamilton Accies.
Kettlewell had been under increasing pressure following a 10-match streak without a league victory, which has resulted in County going four points adrift at the foot of the table.
Saturday’s loss to Accies, who triumphed through goals by Ross Callachan and Scott Martin, has proven to be the final straw for chairman Roy MacGregor, who relieved the 36-year-old of his duties immediately after the game.
Kettlewell’s dismissal ends his association with the Staggies, who he served initially as a player before becoming a youth coach.
Kettlewell jointly served as co-manager alongside Steven Ferguson when the pair were appointed in March 2018.
The pair guided County to promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt, in a double-winning campaign which included lifting the IRN-BRU Cup.
Kettlewell took on the role solely in the summer after Ferguson was appointed chief executive, with the Staggies winning seven of their 24 games so far this term.
Following the match, an emotional Kettlewell said: “I have been relieved of my duties.
“That is the situation. Everybody knows I’ve got a brilliant relationship with the chairman, with the football club and everybody here – the cleaners, kit woman, groundsman, everybody.
“It’s a sore one, of course it is. I want to fight, scrap and do the best I possibly can for the football club. I have done that for a long time.
“We find ourselves bottom of the table and cut adrift a little bit off the back of this result.
“I understand football. There is no ill feeling from me towards the football club or to the chairman.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity. There have been a lot of high points, of course there have, but that’s for speaking about another day.
“It’s a bad day for me personally, and for the football club. I genuinely wish every success to the football club moving forward.
“Hopefully somebody can get a tune out of this group of players to get into a situation where we are not sitting at the foot of the table.”
