Liverpool have sacked Director of Football Damien Comolli after the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group, reviewed the club's failure in the transfer market that saw high profile and expensive acquisitions such as Andy Carroll contribute to a chastening season in the Premier League for Kenny Dalglish's side.
Liverpool sack director of football Damien Comolli as owners react to failed transfer policy and desperate run of results
Out of Anfield: Damien Comolli was sacked yesterday
Comolli was appointed to the position of Director of Football Strategy at Anfield in November 2010, and given a remit to oversee the recruitment of players to the club.
His first major impact was to play a role in the January signings of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, for a British transfer record fee of £35m.
He became Director of Football in March 2011, effectively taking on many aspects of a chief executive's role, though focused solely on the business of playing side of the club.
He was pivotal in the signings of Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique, Sebastian Coates and Craig Bellamy, though in all instances manager Kenny Dalglish had the final say in the deals.
The mixed success of those players, most notably Carroll but also Henderson, Adam and to a lesser extend Downing, appears to have cost him his job.
It is an extraordinary turn of events that sees a high profile member of the administration relieved of his job days before an FA Cup semi-final, against Everton rather than at the end of the season.
However an awful run of results that has left Liverpool closer to the relegation places than the top of the table in terms of points has seen the American owners act decisively.