NIGEL Spackman and Millwall have parted company just four months since he joined the club.

The writing was on the wall before the defeat to Northampton as the club had not won in six attempts, losing five, and were only being kept off the bottom of League One courtesy of Rotherham starting the season on minus 10 points.

It is believed Spackman and the club's board met at the home of the former Sky pundit on Sunday where it was decided he should leave.

Spackman said: "Naturally I am very disappointed results have not gone for us so far this season.

"I am still convinced in time the squad of players at Millwall are capable of turning things around and moving up the table.

"In my short time at The Den, I very much enjoyed my association with Millwall and I wish the club all the very best for the future.

"As I stated on a number of occasions, this is a results based business, and time is not on the manager's side when results are not going your way."

Keith McKay, co-editor of Millwall fanzine No-One Likes Us said: "Quite clearly the players were not responding to Spackman's instructions.

"He failed to motivate them to do the job at hand and get results which, in a nutshell, is why Spackman is no longer at Millwall."

He added: "I do feel sorry for Spackman as he did not come here aiming to put the club at the foot of the table and he did what he thought was best for the team.

"His only crime was he was not up to the job of turning around a club which has been in decline for the past two years.

"Many of his purchases will prove to be astute signings with Poul Hubertz and Darren Byfield being the two obvious ones.

"Others such as Kevin McInnes, Filipe Morais and Maurice Ross will need to demonstrate far more if they are to survive at Millwall."

He said: "The board of directors must now think very carefully about their next move as it could prove crucial to the survival of this club.

"Attendances are already plummeting and down by over a third on the opening day despite a lavish advertising campaign promoting the Home of Real Football.

"As a Millwall fan you expect ups and downs but the last two years following our FA Cup and UEFA Cup exploits have seen a rapid decline in our fortunes.

"We've become a laughing stock, a joke club and a club heading for the abyss. Our next managerial appointment will be our sixth in 13 months, an unbelievable statistic which reflects the mess this club is in."

Club chairman Stewart Till said: "This has been a very difficult decision for both parties.

"We firmly believed Nigel was the manager to take us back to the Championship.

"His qualities as a man and his vision for Millwall's future were impeccable but unfortunately circumstances have dictated things have not worked out as either he or we anticipated in the first 10 games of the season.

"For a club of Millwall's size and ambitions, clearly this has been a cause for concern and consequently the board have concluded, after discussion with Nigel, we must seek a different approach.

He added: "We thank Nigel for all his professionalism and hard work. In the immediate future we have asked his assistant Willie Donachie to take charge of the team.

"Our supporters will understand just how momentous a decision this has been for all of us to take so early in the season.

"But they will also recognise the directors have to act in the best interests of the football Club."

Spackman took over the reins in May and was cited as the man to turn the club's fortunes around.

He signed a two-year contract and issued a rallying cry to Millwall fans to get behind him and the team.

However, despite a large number of signings, Millwall could not shake off the stench of losing left over from the previous season and Spackman's statistics make for unpleasant reading - Played: 12; Won: 2; Drawn: 2; Lost: 8; For: 8; Against: 21.

The final nail in Spackman's coffin was hammered in at the weekend when Mitchell Cole put the Cobblers in front on 42 minutes.

Spackman had watched Chris Zebroski have a shot cleared off the line and also hit the post but then he had to endure the fans' derision at the final whistle.

The big question now is who will take over and who has the nerve to step into one of the currently least desirable jobs in football.

Names in the list of possible include David O'Leary, Kevin Blackwell, Gary Megson, Alan Curbishley and Bryan Robson.