Former Celtic and Scotland midfielder Scott Brown has stood down as Ayr United manager “by mutual consent”, the Scottish Championship club has announced.
The 40-year-old exits Somerset Park along with assistant Steven Whittaker, the former Rangers and Scotland defender, after a run of nine games without a victory.
Ayr slipped to sixth in Scotland’s second tier after Saturday’s 3-0 loss against Raith Rovers, a defeat that meant their hosts leapfrogged Brown’s side into fifth.
The Honest Men have dropped out of the promotion play-off places and trail five points behind fourth-placed Dunfermline Athletic, who also have a game in hand.
Brown took charge of Ayr in January 2024 and lifted them clear of relegation trouble before a third-place finish in his first full season in charge, but the momentum has shifted in the opposite direction in recent weeks.
Having started his coaching career as player-coach with Aberdeen after leaving Celtic, Brown had a spell in charge of Fleetwood Town, but after a 13th-place finish in his first season with the League One club, he was sacked in September 2023 after a poor start to his second campaign.
Veteran winger Jamie Murphy, along with first-team coach Tommy Tait and goalkeeper coach Dave Timmins, have taken Ayr training before “further communication regarding an interim position in due course”.
