Peterborough United sack manager Luke Williams

Peterborough United have sacked manager Luke Williams following a 2-0 home defeat to Doncaster Rovers. The result leaves the club 23rd in the standings with just five points from their opening seven games, having scored only 6 goals while conceding 12. This leaves them 5 points from safety and 9 points adrift of the playoff positions.

Williams' tenure ended after less than eleven months in charge. The board said the decision "had not been taken lightly" but that they "felt it had no other choice but to make a change". The club's statement added, "The team's form in League One has not matched the board's expectations, particularly given the significant investment made in the squad."

That investment included the summer signings of Danny Ormerod from AFC Fylde for at least £600,000 and Ethan Williams from Manchester United for a sizeable fee. Despite that spending, the team has managed only one win this season, a run that culminated in Saturday's loss. Alfie May put Doncaster ahead after 15 minutes and Isaac Hutchinson sealed the win late on.

The defeat was Peterborough's third in a winless five-game league run. It came just four days after a dramatic 7-6 penalty shootout victory over Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, a result that had secured a fourth-round place for the first time since 2009. That cup success proved insufficient to save Williams, who won 18 and lost 20 of his 47 games in charge, a record that can be examined in more detail on the club's stats page.

Assistant manager Ryan Harley and coach Connell Rawlinson will take temporary charge. Their first match is a trip to face ninth-placed Stockport County next Saturday, a fixture that will be a significant challenge for the interim team as they look to improve the club's perilous position. The full schedule of upcoming matches can be found on the fixtures page.

Williams, who replaced Darren Ferguson last October with the club bottom of the table, guided the team to an 18th-place finish last season. His departure marks the shortest stint of his managerial career.