Nine months of hell for El Tel But is he still a top coach?

The former England coach had an angry showdown with chairman Peter Ridsdale on Thursday after a poor run of results that has seen the club slump to 15th in the table.

Leeds have lost four games in a row, including an embarrassing FA Cup exit to Yorkshire neighbours Sheffield United, who also knocked them out of the Worthington Cup.

Then on Friday morning Venables brought his rollercoaster ride at Elland Road to an end.

It is expected that first-team coach Eddie Gray will take charge for the rest of the season, starting at Liverpool on Sunday.

Venables took over from David O'Leary in July 2002, but has seen several first-team players sold in an attempt to solve the club's financial crisis that saw their debts rising to £78m.

Within a fortnight of him taking over star defender Rio Ferdinand was sold to rivals Manchester United.

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Jonathan Woodgate, Robbie Fowler, Lee Bowyer, Robbie Keane and Olivier Dacourt were also shipped out in a bid to balance the books.

Venables was unhappy at seeing his squad ripped apart and Woodgate's £8m move to Newcastle led to him considering his position with the club.

He decided to stay on until the end of the season, but results have gone from bad to worse since then and both parties now appear to have made a clean break.