Sunderland have sacked manager Mick McCarthy after three years in charge, the day after Sunderland's 2-1 defeat at Manchester City. the club are 16 points adrift of safety at the foot of the Premiership.
McCarthy took over on 12 March 2003 with Sunderland bottom of the Premiership, taking over from the dismissed Howard Wilkinson.
McCarthy was powerless to prevent the club, who had already sacked Peter Reid earlier that season, from dropping down to the Championship.
The former Republic of Ireland boss lost all nine games as they finished with a Premiership record low of 19 points.
Despite being saddled with huge debts and having to sell the bulk of his first-team squad, McCarthy led the club to third in the Championship before losing to Crystal Palace in the play-offs.
The following season McCarthy led the club to the Championship title with 94 points.
But this campaign has been a disaster, with the club only winning two games out of 28 games.
They were also knocked out of the FA Cup by League One side Brentford.
McCarthy would not discuss his sacking but told Sky Sports News as he left the team's training ground: "It's been tough here this last few months, but it's been brilliant.
"I've enjoyed every single minute of it, it's been a pleasure, I've been very fortunate.
"I've done my best and I can't do any more. I'll move on and eventually do something else."
Assistant Academy manager Kevin Ball has been put in charge for the last 10 matches of the season with a permanent appointment to be made in the summer.
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