Dick Advocaat has been dismissed as coach of FC Zenit St. Petersburg following a 2-0 loss to FC Tom Tomsk on Sunday, their fourth successive league match without victory. Zenit have won just six times in 17 Premier-Liga games and are seventh in the table, ten points behind pacesetters FC Rubin Kazan, prompting the departure of the most successful coach in the club's history.

Historic results
"After a series of unfortunate results in the league, the club management and board have decided to relieve head coach Dick Advocaat from his duties," read a statement on the club's official website which also thanked the 61-year-old coach for writing "many glorious pages in the club's history". Under Advocaat, Zenit won the Russian title for the first time in 2007 before lifting the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Сup the following year.

Davydov takes over
The Dutchman, who joined Zenit in 2006, announced last month he would step down at the end of the season to take charge of the Belgian national side. Reserve-team coach Anatoli Davydov has been appointed as a temporary replacement and he has a little over a week to prepare Zenit for their UEFA Europa League play-off against Portuguese side CD Nacional, with the first leg at home on 20 August.