Russian strugglers Samara sack manager Vercauteren

The announcement came shortly after Samara suffered a 1-0 away defeat to promoted Orenburg in the Russian Premier League, leaving them bottom of the table.

"I can confirm: Vercauteren has been sacked," Sport Express quoted Dmitry Shlyakhtin, a regional sports minister and club director, as saying.

"The club's poor results were the reason."

Samara will present their new manager in the near future.

The 60-year-old former Belgian international Vercauteren took over Samara in June 2014, winning promotion to the Premier League the same season.

But Samara have struggled from the start of this term and have just seven points from 12 matches.