Advocaat leaves Zenit

Zenit St Petersburg and coach Dick Advocaat have parted company, bringing a premature end to the Dutchman’s three-year spell with the Russian club.

The former Rangers and Holland boss took over from Czech Vlastimil Petrzhela in the summer of 2006 and enjoyed huge success, leading Zenit to the 2007 Russian title, the 2008 UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

But results have suffered and relations between club and manager have broken down since Advocaat’s decision to take over as Belgium coach at the end of the current Russian season.

And Sunday’s lacklustre 2-0 home defeat to lowly Tom Tomsk proved the final straw for the club management after a bitter few weeks of internal wrangling.

A statement released late on Sunday on Zenit’s website read: “After a series of poor results in the recent rounds of the Russian championship, the club’s leadership and board of directors have decided to dismiss head coach Dick Advocaat.

“Dick Advocaat has done a lot for the team and his name will forever be associated with the success Zenit has achieved over the past few seasons.”