bbc sports 
Mark McGhee has been sacked as manager of Aberdeen with the 53-year-old's side sitting second bottom of the Scottish Premier League table.
The Dons said on their website that McGhee and assistants Scott Leitch and Colin Meldrum "have left the club".
McGhee, who took charge in June 2009, survived a record 9-0 defeat by Celtic on 6 November, after which the club's board backed him to continue.
But their 2-0 loss to Kilmarnock on Saturday was their sixth in succession.
And the Dons' announcement came a couple of hours after the SPL decided that all the weekend's fixtures, including Celtic's visit to Pittodrie, were being postponed because of the severe weather.
Aberdeen's next fixture is away to Hearts on 11 December, but chairman Stewart Milne has not set a timescale for a permanent appointment.
Terry Butcher, who has led Inverness Caledonian Thistle to promotion and who now lie fourth in the SPL, has emerged as an early favourite.
Former Aberdeen midfielder Gordon Strachan, unemployed after leaving Middlesbrough, and Jimmy Calderwood, who was McGhee's predecessor at Pittodrie, are also possible candidates.
Milne, who will shortly announce details of interim arrangements, said: "On behalf of everyone at the club, I would like to thank Mark, Scott and Colin for their time at Aberdeen."
McGhee had an up and down record as a manager with Reading, Leicester, Wolves, Millwall and Brighton, but he was highly praised for leading unfashionable Motherwell to a third-place finish in his first season in charge of the SPL club.
It led to a switch to Aberdeen, where he had played in the side that defeated Real Madrid to lift the European Cup-winners' Cup in 1983.
He had been chosen to succeed Calderwood, who had lost the support of the Dons board despite the former Dunfermline boss leading his side to a Europa League qualifying place.
McGhee's tenure began with an 8-1 aggregate defeat - their heaviest ever in Europe - to Czech outfit Sigma Olomouc and they ended the season in ninth place in the SPL.
Following this season's humiliating defeat by Celtic, lengthy discussions were held between McGhee and the board.
Despite strong indications that the manager was about to be sacked, he remained in post with both sides stressing their determination to improve both on and off the park.
However, the poor run of results continued as the Dons failed to find the net during defeats by Rangers, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock.
Only goal difference now keeps them above Hamilton at the foot of the table and McGhee departs as their least successful manager since they were formed in 1903, with a win percentage of 27%.
