Struggling Rovers part company with former Saints boss Coyle

Blackburn Rovers have parted company with former St Johnstone manager Owen Coyle “by mutual agreement”.

Two days after nearly securing an FA Cup replay against Manchester United, the Championship club and Coyle have gone their separate ways with the club admitting they fear for their Championship status as they are second bottom with only 15 games remaining.

Coyle, who left McDiarmid Park in November 2007 after two-and-a-half years in charge and has managed Burnley, Bolton and Wigan in the region, only arrived at Ewood Park in the summer having recently managed MLS team Houston Dynamo.

His record in elevating the Clarets into the Premier League is believed to have been viewed favourably by Rovers’ Indian owners, Venky’s, after a four-year absence from the top flight.

However, having assumed a position that Paul Lambert walked away from because he felt he was not going to be backed, the club sold both Grant Hanley and central-defensive partner Shane Duffy at the start of the season and have toiled in the lower reaches ever since.

The club insisted there was money to spend in the January transfer window, but Coyle was left frustrated having seen deals for four players fail to materialise before the deadline.

Rovers have also won just twice since November in the league.

Assistant manager Sandy Stewart, who had a spell working alongside Coyle at St Johnstone in 2007, has also left the Ewood Park club.