Under-pressure Montpellier boss Jean Fernandez announced on Thursday he has resigned as coach of the struggling French Ligue 1 side.
Fernandez, 59, took over at the beginning of the season, after leaving Nancy, but led the team to just two wins in 16 matches against five defeats.
His decision comes the day after a 2-0 loss at home against Lorient leaves the club fourth from bottom and five points above the relegation zone.
"I saw the players and the (club) president concerning my decision. I felt I was the subject of a lot of criticism. In the best interests of the club and the team, it was better to stop," Fernandez told a press conference.
"It's always difficult when a coach isn't winning. What's best for the club counts for more than the coach, that has always been my philosophy."
A former Marseille and Bordeaux player, Fernandez has extensive experience in Ligue 1 having overseen 602 matches during his time time with clubs including Marseille, Sochaux, Metz, Auxerre and Nancy.
Club president Louis Nicollin had however slammed Fernandez after the club's 2-0 loss at Marseille last Friday, stating he had made a mistake in recruiting him.
"I've nothing against him, he's a good guy, but I think I made a mistake," said Nicollin.
Montpellier won their first ever Ligue 1 title in 2012 under current Lille coach Rene Girard.
But the club also paid the price of failure to recruit and the departure of some of their most experienced players over the past season including Younes Belhanda, Henri Bédimo, John Utaka and Marco Estrada.
"I'm sorry because we weren't missing much, notably at home," said Fernandez.
"The match against Guingamp (1-1) was a turning point. If we had won that match that would have given us momentum for the Marseille game."
Deputy coach Pascal Baills will fill in until the appointment of a new coach, with the club hosting Toulouse on Sunday.
Two names in the running are former Montpellier and Marseille coach Rolland Courbis and Frédéric Antonetti, who coached Rennes for four years until the end of last season.
Fernandez becomes the fourth Ligue 1 coach to lose his job since the beginning of the season after Valenciennes' Daniel Sanchez, Eric Hely at Sochaux and Ajaccio's Fabrizio Ravanelli.
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