Aberdeen have sacked Scottish Cup winning-manager Jimmy Thelin with the side eighth in the Scottish Premiership and on a five-match losing run.
The decision comes eight months after the Swede led the Pittodrie side to their first Scottish Cup win in 35 years, beating holders Celtic on penalties.
Saturday's 1-0 Scottish Premiership loss at Falkirk was the Dons' second straight defeat and followed a draw with Dundee United and losses to Celtic and Conference League opponents Sparta Prague.
First team coach Peter Leven will take charge of the first team on an interim basis, starting with Tuesday's trip to face Rangers. Leven previously oversaw the team after Barry Robson's sacking in 2024.
Thelin had come under pressure earlier in the season, with Aberdeen having taken just one point from their opening six league games and been knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup by Motherwell.
However, an upturn in domestic form gave the former Elfsborg head coach more time.
Aberdeen, who play Rangers in their next two games, finished second bottom of the Conference League league phase with just two points with Thelin winning just eight out of a possible 30 games across all competitions since that Hampden triumph.
Thelin said after Saturday's loss: "I won't talk much about the game, but more about ourselves. The desire, there's too many individual decisions.
"Football is more than technique and systems. It's how you act on the football pitch. It's about responsibility. We've been here before, we've bounced back, but now we're back some steps again.
"Even if you don't have the perfect game, it should always feel like we give the fans everything, and right now we aren't doing that. That's not good enough.
"I'm the manager, I'm responsible, but sometimes the players have to look in the mirror and know what football is about. We have to drop our egos and play much better as a team."
Thelin joined Aberdeen in the summer of 2024 and made an impressive impact, winning 14 and drawing one of his opening 15 games in charge.
However, a 6-0 loss to Celtic in last season's League Cup semi-final heralded a downturn in league form and Aberdeen's Premiership season never really recovered from their humbling at Hampden.
In the Scottish Cup final, Aberdeen forced extra time after training at the break and won through in the shootout to seal a Europa League qualifying berth.
Defeat over two legs against Romanian side FCSB consigned the Dons to the Conference League, where they picked up draws with AEK Larnaca and Noah. A 6-0 loss at AEK Athens and 3-0 defeat by Sparta Prague illustrated the defensive problems Aberdeen had in Europe this season.
The club are now looking for their fifth manager since Derek McInnes' eight-year reign ended in 2021.
Thelin lasted two games longer than predecessor Barry Robson, despite having a lower win rate.
