Hamilton Accies confirm Stuart Taylor exit as 10-month reign at New Douglas Park ends

Hamilton Accies have confirmed they have parted company with head coach Stuart Taylor after 10 months in charge at New Douglas Park.

It comes after weeks of uncertainty with the club and Taylor refusing to comment on the state of play at the club.

Lanarkshire Live Sport revealed last month that the 49-year-old's stint in South Lanarkshire was coming to an end - and an agreement has now finally been reached for them to part ways by mutual consent.

An exit package for the former Accies defender, who started his coaching career at the club as assistant manager to Billy Reid in 2007-2011, was signed off today.

Taylor arrived in August last year to replace Brian Rice at the helm after Rice resigned from his role, having overseen the club’s relegation to the Championship.

But Accies came up short in their promotion bid as they finished sixth in the 10-team division, although Taylor did manage to secure survival with a few games to spare amid a run of one defeat in 10 matches towards the end of the season.

The campaign also included a painful Scottish Cup third round exit to West of Scotland League Premier side Auchinleck Talbot in November.

The future of Taylor's assistant John Rankin, who joined from Hearts in December, remains unclear.

A statement released by Accies read: "Hamilton Accies can today confirm that we have mutually agreed to part company with head coach Stuart Taylor.

"We thank Stuart, and he leaves us with our best wishes for the future."

Accies, who returned to pre-season last week, will now start the process of recruiting a new boss ahead of their competitive action commencing next month away to Dundee in the Premier Sports Cup on July 9.

The next appointment will be their fourth manager in three years