Tinkerman sacked by Valencia

FORMER Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as manager of Valencia, according to club president Juan Soler.

The Italian was ousted after they were dumped out of the UEFA Cup by Steaua Bucharest on Thursday night a competition they won under Rafael Benitez last season.

Ranieri left Chelsea in the summer after failing to secure any silverware in the first season of the Roman Abramovich era at Stamford Bridge.

Ex-Bolivia coach Antonio Lopez who was working as director of Valencia's school of football and who was Rafael Benitez's assistant manager takes over as first team coach until the end of the season.

Ronald Koeman has resigned as coach of Ajax, citing Thursday night's UEFA Cup exit at the hands of Auxerre.

The Amsterdam side went down by 3-2 on aggregate in France.