ASTON Villa manager Dean Smith has been sacked following their 1-0 defeat to Saints on Friday.

Saints inflicted the Midlands side’s fifth consecutive Premier League defeat with Adam Armstrong’s early stunner at St Mary’s.

It was a first-half of complete domination and Saints could have been much further ahead, but the second half fightback could have also harboured Villa a draw had they been a touch more creative.

The loss came following a 4-1 hammering by West Ham the previous weekend, with Villa conceding 13 goals in the five defeats.

Villa are 15th in the Premier League with three wins and just one draw in their opening 11 fixtures.

Other losses included Arsenal, Wolves, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Chelsea and Watford.

Smith got Villa promoted from the Championship via the playoffs in 2018-19, following a three season absence from the top-flight. 

He had to deal with losing talisman and England international Jack Grealish in a £100million move during this summer's transfer window, and his resulting investments haven't all proved fruitful as of yet.

Smith is the fifth manager to be relieved of his duties just 11 games into the Premier League season – that’s a quarter of the league’s bosses already.

Norwich manager Daniel Farke was also let go by his employers this weekend, despite picking up their first win of the season against Brentford yesterday.