London (AFP) – Stoke City announced on Friday that manager Paul Lambert had left his position by “mutual consent” following the club’s relegation to the Championship.
He is the fourth Premier League boss to lose his job over the last three days after also-relegated Swansea revealed earlier on Friday they would not be renewing Portuguese Carlos Carvalhal’s contract.
On Wednesday, Everton released Sam Allardyce while West Ham ditched David Moyes.
Lambert was appointed on a two-and-a-half-year deal in January after Mark Hughes was sacked but the former Aston Villa and Norwich boss was unable to keep the club in the Premier League.
The Scot won just two of his 15 games in charge — his first fixture against Huddersfield in January and what proved to be his final match at Swansea last weekend.
“The club would like to thank Paul for his work over the past four months and wish him well for the future,” said a statement on Stoke’s website.
“While he was unable to guide us to Premier League safety after being appointed in January, it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of effort, professionalism and dedication on his part.”
“Paul would like to thank the board, players and staff for the opportunity and their support,” the statement added. “He would also like to thank the fans for their unwavering support. While looking forward to his next challenge, he would like to wish the club every success next season.
“The club will appoint a replacement as soon as possible in order to give the new manager time to prepare for the challenge of the 2018/19 season in the Championship.”
Lambert, 48, praised the fans after Stoke’s 2-1 victory over Swansea.
“It has been a tough year for everyone connected to this fantastic club, especially the supporters, so for them to give the lads that backing today was unbelievable,” he said last Sunday.
“It’s not a nice feeling at the moment. It is tough and it is all still very raw, but we won the game today and before the start of play that is what I asked of the guys.”
Last week, Stoke’s owners issued a statement referring to the “bitter disappointment” of relegation after 10 years in the top flight and saying they would continue to give people “that little bit longer than most” to prove themselves.
