LEEDS United have sacked head coach Paul Heckingbottom less than four months after his arrival at Elland Road.

Former Barnsley boss Heckingbottom replaced Thomas Christiansen at the start of February, but lost eight of his 16 matches in charge as Leeds finished 13th in the Sky Bet Championship.

Managing director Angus Kinnear said in a statement: "On behalf of the board of directors at Leeds United I would like to thank Paul for the commitment and passion he has demonstrated since he joined the club earlier this year.

"Paul came to us during a difficult period in the season and has conducted himself in an exemplary manner despite results not going as any of us had hoped."

Assistant manager Jamie Clapham, head of fitness Nathan Winder and analyst Alex Bailey will also leave the club, with set-piece coach Gianni Vio not having his contract renewed.

Kinnear added: "Our objective is to bring in a head coach with more experience who can help us reach the goals we have talked about since we became custodians of the club last summer.

"We are confident of making a quick appointment and we thank our fans for their continued support."

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury Town have appointed John Askey as their new manager after luring him from Macclesfield Town.

The 53-year-old, who had been linked with the vacant Bradford City job earlier this week, has signed a three-year contract, with compensation having been agreed with his former club.

He replaces Paul Hurst, who this week left for Ipswich in the wake of Shrewsbury's League One play-off final defeat by Rotherham.

Askey has been with Macclesfield since 1984 as a player, youth team manager, assistant manager and two separate spells as manager, the most recent of which began five years ago and included their promotion back into the Football League.