Oldham Athletic have sacked head coach Keith Curle, with the decision coming the day after Curle was beaten by his ex-club Northampton Town.

Curle’s last game in charge of the Latics was a 2-1 defeat away to the Cobblers last night (23/11) at Sixfields.

He was dismissed after 8 months in charge at Boundary Park, with the team 22nd in the League Two table after a league-high 11 defeats and the team are 2 points clear of the relegation zone.

The Latics confirmed the news in a statement on their website earlier today.

The statement read, “Oldham Athletic can confirm that Keith Curle has left his role as Head Coach by mutual consent.

“We would like to thank Keith for his efforts during his time at Boundary Park and would also like to wish him well for the future. His assistant Colin West has also been relieved of his duties.

“Selim Benachour will step up from the Academy and take over as Interim Head Coach for the time being with the club making no further comment now as the team continues its preparations for the game at the weekend.”

Curle was the 8th head coach appointed by owner Abdallah Lemsagam since taking over in 2018, continuing a chaotic time in charge amid regular fan protests.

The 58-year-old, who was capped 3 times by England as a player, replaced Harry Kewell in March as temporary head coach less than a month after his sacking by Northampton. He was kept on for the 2021/22 season, but leaves after just 9 wins in 40 matches in charge.

Curle had previously managed two and a half years at Northampton. He had been appointed in October 2018, and delivered promotion from League 2 to League 1 in the covid-affected 2019/20 campaign via the play-offs, only to be sacked in February 2021 after a run of 1 win in 10 games with the club in the bottom four.