Bristolian Keith Curle leaves his role of Head Coach at Oldham Athletic

Former Bristol City and Rovers defender Keith Curle has left his role as head coach of League Two club Oldham Athletic.

The Latics, in the same division as Bristol Rovers, are third from bottom and are on a wretched run of form.

Under Curle’s guidance, they have won just once in nine matches and suffered their 11th defeat, the most in the league, on Tuesday against his former side Northampton.

One of those defeats came in August when Rovers defeated Oldham 1-0 with Harvey Saunders scoring the only goal of the match. Any new manager in charge will come up against Rovers in February.

In a statement released by the Owls, it read: Oldham Athletic can confirm that Keith Curle has left his role as Head Coach by mutual consent. We would like to thank Keith for his efforts during his time at Boundary Park and would also like to wish him well for the future.

His assistant Colin West has also been relieved of his duties. Selim Benachour will step up from the Academy and take over as Interim Head Coach for the time being with the club making no further comment now as the team continues its preparations for the game at the weekend.”

The 58-year-old had only been in charge since March after succeeding Harry Kewell, but could only muster up nine wins out of the 40 he oversaw at the struggling club. His departure is the ninth to come under Oldham’s owner Abdallah Lemsagam, since his arrival in 2018.

Curle, born in Bristol, started his playing career playing for the Gas, playing there for two seasons before a move to Torquay, where he lasted just four months before crossing the divide and joining City.

He was a success with the Robins, winning promotion to League One in 1984 and played for three seasons in total, making more than 100 appearances, before moving to Reading.

Despite a managerial career that started in 2004 with Mansfield Town, he has yet to manage in his hometown.