Sven finished at Leicester

Sven-Goran Eriksson has left his post as Leicester manager following the club's mediocre start to the season.

Much was expected of the Foxes after an outlay of more than £10million on transfer fees alone in the summer, but they have struggled for consistency this term.

Although they are only five points adrift of the automatic promotion places in the npower Championship, a 3-0 defeat at home to lowly Millwall on Saturday left Leicester in 13th place.

That was the final straw for the club's Thailand-based owners Asia Football Investments, who held a meeting this afternoon to discuss ending the Swede's one-year stay at the King Power Stadium.

And Eriksson's departure was confirmed in a statement on Leicester's official website, www.lcfc.com, this evening.

"Leicester City Football Club has confirmed today that, by mutual agreement, Sven-Goran Eriksson has ceased to be the first team manager, with immediate effect," it read.

"First team coach Dereck Fazackerley has also left the club.

"The club and its board of directors would like to thank Sven and Derek for the contribution they have made to Leicester City during their 13 months at King Power Stadium."

Leicester were in the relegation places when Eriksson, having just finished a stint with the Ivory Coast national team, replaced Paulo Sousa as manager in October 2010.

He guided them to a respectable 10th place last season and among his summer acquisitions was defender Matt Mills, who was signed from Reading for a fee that could rise to £5.5million.

The Foxes were heavily tipped for promotion this season, but a record of just five wins from 13 league games led to Eriksson's demise.

Leicester have now turned their attention to find a successor for the Swede.

"Academy director Jon Rudkin and coach Mike Stowell will jointly assume the role of acting manager of the first team, with assistance from development coach Steve Beaglehole," the statement added.

"This will begin with training on Tuesday morning ahead of Saturday's npower Championship trip to West Ham United.

"The process of recruiting a new permanent manager will begin in the coming days.

"There will be no further comments from the club or any comment on the recruitment process until an appointment is made."

Martin O'Neill, who managed Leicester for five years and led them to the Premier League as well as two League Cup triumphs, has emerged as the early favourite to succeed Eriksson.

Mark Hughes and Alan Shearer have also been touted as potential replacements.

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SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON FACTFILE

1948: Born Torsby, Sweden, February 5.

1975: Finishes playing career in Sweden with his only club, Degerfors.

1976: Takes over as coach at Degerfors.

1979: Takes over as coach of IFK Gothenburg, winning two cups and a league title.

1982: Joins Benfica where he wins Portuguese championship twice and domestic cup, but loses in final of the UEFA Cup to Anderlecht.

1984: Takes over at Roma where he wins Coppa Italia in his second season.

1987: Leaves Roma to join Italian rivals Fiorentina.

1989: Rejoins Benfica and takes them to 1990 European Cup final, losing 1-0 to AC Milan.

1992: Leaves Benfica to join Sampdoria with whom he wins the Coppa Italia in 1994.

1996: Named as new Blackburn manager but later changes his mind about the job and in 1997 joins Lazio.

1998: Wins Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup.

1999: Wins European Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

2000: Wins Italian Serie A title and Coppa Italia.

October - Agrees five-year contract to become first foreign manager of the England national team from summer 2001.

2001: January 9 - Resigns as Lazio manager and takes up England post.

September 1 - England beat Germany 5-1 in Munich in World Cup qualifying.

2002: April - Eriksson's World Cup preparations are disrupted by revelations of his affair with TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson.

June 21 - Despite taking the lead through Michael Owen, England slip out of the World Cup as they go down 2-1 to Brazil in Shizuoka in the quarter-finals.

2004: June 24 - England lose a penalty shoot-out to Euro 2004 hosts Portugal in the quarter-finals.

2005: September 7 - Fans chant for his sacking as England lose to Northern Ireland 1-0 in Belfast.

October - Wins over Austria and Poland see England qualify for the World Cup finals as group winners.

2006: January 23 - FA announce Eriksson will leave his post after the 2006 World Cup.

July: England are knocked out of the World Cup by Portugal in the

quarter-finals via another penalty shoot-out, after some unconvincing displays in the tournament.

2007: Appointed Manchester City manager.

2008: June 2 - Eriksson leaves City by "mutual consent" and is appointed

coach of Mexico the following day.

2009: April 2 - After an unsuccessful spell in Mexico, during which he is also linked with the manager's position at Portsmouth, Eriksson is sacked.

July 22 - Appointed director of football at Coca-Cola League Two outfit Notts County following their takeover by a Middle Eastern consortium.

2010: February - Walks away from the role following the club's takeover by Ray Trew.

March 28 - Ivory Coast national federation announce Eriksson will be their manager for the World Cup.

June - After failing to guide the Elephants through the 'Group of Death' including Brazil, Portugal and North Korea, Eriksson's contract is not renewed.

October 3 - Appointed manager of Championship side Leicester City on a two-year contract to replace Paulo Sousa.

2011: May - Leicester finish the season 10th.

October 22 - A 3-0 home defeat by Millwall leaves the Foxes 13th in the Championship.

October 24 - Eriksson leaves the club by "mutual agreement" despite the team being just two points off the play-offs and five off automatic promotion.