Robert de Pauw has left his role as Aston Villa Women coach after just six months in the role.
The Women’s Super League team is currently ninth in the table, having picked up just six points from nine games, with just one win to their name this season.
In a statement on Wednesday, the club wrote: “We would like to thank Robert for his commitment during his tenure and wish him the best for the future.”
While the results likely played a role in De Pauw’s departure, reports also claim there were accusations that he had made inappropriate comments to players.
According the guardianInternal concerns were raised about the Dutchman’s allegedly unprofessional comments and the club investigated them.
The WSL team chose to announce De Pauw’s departure just hours before the clash against Charlton on Wednesday night.
Robert de Pauw leaves his position as Aston Villa Women coach after just six months
The Women’s Super League has only won one game out of nine since De Pauw joined
The Dutchman also shared a cryptic post on his LinkedIn less than a day before leaving.
The news comes less than a day after De Pauw shared a cryptic post on LinkedIn.
De Pauw wrote: “As a football coach, the most difficult thing is the many decisions you have to make daily. Short term, long term.
‘Popular decisions, unpopular decisions. Weekly having to disappoint players because you can only play with 11 and you have to disappoint 14 others.
“You need the club’s backing if you want the team to go from mediocre to good to better to the top.” This new selection and development of a team is (somewhat) necessary to take these steps.
“I did this at Leverkusen the last two seasons selecting the football, behavior and characteristics of the players. I never shy away from making difficult decisions and I certainly won’t win popularity contests.
‘Because you can never satisfy everyone. But always maintaining high standards to get the best out of the team and each person.’
He then shared a link to an article about his departure from previous club Bayer Leverkusen, which claimed De Pauw had “laid the foundations” at the club.
In addition to his time at Vila, De Pauw also coached FC Twente Women and Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women.