Neil Warnock has been sacked as manager of Crystal Palace, with Keith Millen placed in charge for Sunday's trip to QPR.
Palace have won just one of their last 12 games - at home to Liverpool on November 23 - with the 3-1 Boxing Day defeat to Southampton seeing them slip into the relegation zone.
Warnock, 66, returned to Palace in August following the departure of Tony Pulis two days before the start of the season, but has paid the price for winning just three of his 17 games in charge in south London.
"Crystal Palace football club can today confirm that Neil Warnock has been relieved of his duties and is no longer first-team manager," read a Palace statement.
"The club would like to put on record its thanks to Neil for all his hard work and energy over the past four months. Keith Millen will lead the team against Queens Park Rangers on Sunday as caretaker manager."
Warnock originally left Palace in 2010 after they went into administration, joining QPR and taking them into the Premier League before being sacked eight months later in January 2012. The following month he was appointed manager of Leeds United, only to be fired just over a year later.
Co-owner and co-chairman Steve Parish revealed he had not got anyone lined-up to come in, but confirmed Palace "want it sorted out as soon as possible".
That change, Parish admits, is something that will likely alter the Eagles' January plans, with Warnock having confirmed on Boxing Day that the club had made bids for three strikers.
The imminent reopening of the transfer window heightens Palace's need to name a successor, with Chris Hughton, Tony Popovic and even Pulis amongst the bookmakers' favorites to replace Warnock.
It is former Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood that is the overriding favorite, though, having been interviewed for the job in August, only to rule himself out after the process dragged on.
Palace head to QPR on Sunday on a run of just one win in 12 top-flight matches.
The latest defeat to Southampton not only saw them slip into the bottom three but resulted in a large number of supporters audibly turn on Warnock.
A chorus of "you don't know what you're doing" echoed around Selhurst Park when the Yorkshireman brought defender Martin Kelly on for winger Yannick Bolasie with his side already three goals behind.
"When you lose a game you're responsible, I've no complaints about that," Warnock said of the fans' reaction.
