Ajax have parted ways with coach Maurice Steijn with immediate effect, the Eredivisie club said on Monday, after a run of four league defeats left them second from bottom.
The 49-year-old Steijn joined Ajax in June on a three-year deal after a season at Sparta Rotterdam, but their only league win came against promoted Heracles at the start of the campaign.
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"We came to the conclusion that this is what is best for Ajax, although I regret that," Steijn told the club website.
"Everyone who knows me knows I have done everything to take Ajax back to the place where this club belongs. But I failed to do so."
Ajax, whose last win in any competition came on Aug. 24, have five points from seven games.
"We have worked intensely and professionally together over the last few months," Ajax chief executive Jan van Halst said. "But the sporting successes and the development of the team were lacking. That is why we decided to sit down together again today.
"This time, Maurice also expressed his concerns on whether he was the right man in the right place. Together we decided that it would be best to part ways."
Hedwiges Maduro, a former Ajax player, will take temporary charge of the team ahead of their visit to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Europa League on Thursday before a trip to leaders PSV Eindhoven on Sunday.