Preston show exit to Brown after poor run

Phil Brown, who has left Preston (Getty Images)

Preston North End have parted company with manager Phil Brown after less than a year in charge at Deepdale. Brown, 52, who had guided Hull City into the Premier League via the play-offs in 2008, was appointed in January but was unable to save them from relegation from the Championship.

Preston lie 10th in League One, only five points away from the play-off places. Assistant manager Brian Horton has also left the club. Graham Alexander and David Unsworth have been put in temporary charge.

Brown is the 12th English club manager to lose his job this season, his departure having come just eight days after Peter Ridsdale, formerly with Leeds, Barnsley, Cardiff and Plymouth, joined Preston as chairman. North End were held 0-0 by Stevenage in Brown's final game and Ridsdale said in a statement: "Following relegation we had hoped that we would be in a position to compete for an immediate return to the Championship but, after a promising start, we have only won one of our last 11 League games."