Rock-bottom Swansea part company with Clement

Paul Clement and Swansea City have parted company after a difficult first half of the season which has left them bottom of the Premier League.

Swansea appointed Clement in January with the club in the relegation zone after the sacking of Bob Bradley and he won the Premier League Manager of the Month award at the first time of asking.

Clement went on to save Swansea from relegation at the end of last season, but he has been unable to continue that form into the 2017-18 campaign.

Monday's 3-1 defeat at Everton - a fourth in five in the Premier League - left them rock-bottom with just 12 points from 18 matches.

A Swansea statement did not confirm who will take charge of Saturday's league fixture at home to Crystal Palace, but Tony Pulis has been installed as the bookmakers' favourite.

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said in a statement: "To change the manager, especially at only the halfway point of the season, is the last thing we wanted to do as a club.

"We had three different manager last season and as a result we all wanted to give Paul as much time as possible to turn things around.

"But we felt we couldn't leave it any longer and needed to make a change to give us the best chance of an uplift and a turnaround in fortunes with the club bottom of the Premier League."