John Askey: Port Vale sack manager and assistant Dave Kevan

John Askey was in charge of Macclesfield and Shrewsbury before coming to Burslem in February 2019

Port Vale have parted company with manager John Askey and his assistant Dave Kevan.

Vale, beaten 4-0 at Mansfield on Saturday, have dropped to 17th in League Two after going six games without a win.

Askey, whose Vale side missed out on the play-offs by a point last season, was appointed in February 2019.

First-team coach Danny Pugh will take charge of the side until further notice.

In a club statement, the Vale board said "We would like to thank John and Dave for their service to the club and wish them all the best for the future."

Askey took charge of 91 league and cup games for Vale, winning 34 and losing 32.

After three victories in a row, Vale were in the League Two play-off places at the end of October.

But after going out of the FA Cup to non-league King's Lynn, they then lost all five league games in November and have not won since a remarkable 6-3 victory at Bolton at the start of December.

Analysis

Phil Bowers, BBC Radio Stoke

The amount of pressure that had built on the manager since the start of November has finally told.

Expectation amongst supporters and the club itself has been a huge issue. Last season Askey's men lost just one game at Vale Park and were a good bet for the play-off places when the season was called off due to Covid.

This year, they were expected to go one better, but the sequence of results has led to this decision - and the club looking for a fifth manager in four years.

Given the absence of fans from games and the subsequent lack of income, there is now a very important decision to be made by the club's board about who takes over. There aren't many outstanding candidates out there.

Many fans contacting us on Praise and Grumble on Saturday wanted former manager Micky Adams to take over. Other out-of-work managers who have managed at League Two level before are Ian Holloway, who has just left Grimsby; David Flitcroft, who has managed Rochdale and Mansfield; Phil Parkinson, who's been in charge of Bradford and recently left Sunderland, and Graham Alexander, who left Salford earlier this season.