Blackpool sack coach Riga

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Blackpool have sacked head coach Jose Riga after just four and a half months in charge.
The former Charlton boss has seen his side pick up only six points from their opening 14 games since he took the reins, a run which has left them rooted to the foot of the Sky Bet Championship.

Working with a threadbare squad, which contained just eight players when the new season started, the 57-year-old has publicly questioned their transfer policy on a number of occasions.

Former Birmingham manager Lee Clark had been heavily linked with the Blackpool job, even before Riga's departure.

Blackpool chairman Karl Oysten said had no choice but to act now.

He said in a brief statement on the club's official website: "We couldn't leave the decision any longer to give someone else the opportunity to help us work our way out of the position we are currently in."

The statement also said former England Under-19 coach Noel Blake, currently first-team coach at Bloomfield Road, would take charge of training on Tuesday.

The new appointment will have his work cut out to keep the struggling club in the second tier. They have won just once all season, losing 10 times, and are five points adrift at the bottom of the table.