LEEDS United have sacked head coach Paul Heckingbottom less than four months after his arrival at Elland Road, saying they want a boss with "more experience".

Ex-Barnsley boss Heckingbottom, a much-travelled former Scarborough defender, replaced Thomas Christiansen in the Elland Road hotseat in early February, but lost eight of his 16 matches in charge as Leeds finished 13th in the Sky Bet Championship.

The new manager will be United's 11th since April 2013 - more than any other team in the English league in that time.

Managing director Angus Kinnear said in a statement: "On behalf of the board of directors at Leeds United I would like to thank Paul for the commitment and passion he has demonstrated since he joined the club earlier this year.

"Paul came to us during a difficult period in the season and has conducted himself in an exemplary manner despite results not going as any of us had hoped."

Assistant-manager Jamie Clapham, head of fitness Nathan Winder and analyst Alex Bailey will also leave the club, with set-piece coach Gianni Vio not having his contract renewed.

Kinnear added: "Our objective is to bring in a head coach with more experience who can help us reach the goals we have talked about since we became custodians of the club last summer.

"We are confident of making a quick appointment and we thank our fans for their continued support."

The managerial merry-go-round at Elland Road effectively began when Neil Warnock served for just over a year before leaving in April 2013, with his successor Brian McDermott lasting only until May of the following year.

David Hockaday and Darko Milanic also departed before 2014 was out, Neil Redfearn lasted barely six months and Uwe Rosler's sacking made it four completed reigns inside 16 months. 

Steve Evans lasted seven months, Garry Monk nearly a year and Christiansen served from June 2017 to February 2018, while Heckingbottom was in charge for just 115 days.

Watford are the only team to rival Leeds in this timeframe, with Javi Gracia becoming their ninth manager in five years when he succeeded Marco Silva.

That total was bumped up by the resignation due to illness of Oscar Garcia after less than a month in charge, but also saw his successor Billy McKinlay sacked after a scarcely believable nine days.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury Town have appointed John Askey as their new manager after luring him from Macclesfield Town.

The 53-year-old, who had been linked to the vacant Bradford City job earlier this week, has signed a three-year contract, with compensation having been agreed with his former club.

He replaces Paul Hurst, who this week left for Ipswich in the wake of Shrewsbury's League One play-off final defeat by Rotherham.

Askey has been with Macclesfield since 1984 as a player, youth team manager, assistant manager and two separate spells as manager, the most recent of which began five years ago and included their promotion back into the Football League.