French Club Marseille have sacked head coach Gennaro Gattuso after spending just 5 months in charge of the former Champions League winners.

A source with direct knowledge of the decision broke the story to the Associated Press on Monday.

The reported sacking of Gattuso comes a day after Marseille lost 1-0 to Brest in the league, a result which has negatively affected the club’s hopes of qualifying for European competition next season.

Gattuso while addressing a postmatch press conference after Sunday’s defeat said “We’ve hit rock bottom. When you hit rock bottom, you have to take responsibility. It’s my responsibility. There is nothing else to say. The table? The truth is that we’re going to have to start looking behind us. We can no longer speak about Europe. We just need to take the necessary points to be calm in the standings”.

Marseille and Gattuso have now started a legal proceeding to part ways and the club is actively looking for a replacement.

Marseille are ninth in the French Ligue 1 standings after 22 matches and are 23 points behind table toppers Paris Saint-Germain.