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By Mitch Phillips
LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Derby County, bottom of the Premier League with only one win from 14 games, parted company with manager Billy Davies on Monday.
"I have met with Billy Davies this morning and we have decided mutually in the best interests of both parties that to go our separate ways is the correct decision at this time," Derby chairman Adam Pearson said on the club's Web site (www.dcfc.co.uk).
"Billy Davies leaves with our best wishes and our genuine gratitude in achieving a magnificent promotion to the Premier League, where everyone connected with the club wanted to be."
Davies had been in charge for 18 months but his relationship with the club's directors had become increasingly strained this season.
Derby have mustered only six points from 14 games, conceding 33 goals and scoring only five, and none since September. Their only win came against Newcastle United while they have suffered some crushing defeats, including 6-0 at Liverpool, 5-0 at Arsenal and 5-0 at home to West Ham United and have yet to score an away goal.
Davies, formerly a midfielder with Rangers, became Scotland's youngest top-flight manager when he took charge of Motherwell in 1998 at the age of 33, later moving to England to take over Preston North End.
He was appointed Derby boss in June 2006 and in his first season in charge took them back to the Premier League for the first time since 2002 with a with a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the playoff final at Wembley last May.
Davies, now 43, initially said he was not sure if he would stay to manage them in the top flight after a turbulent first year in charge when his regular requests for the club to appoint an assistant fell on deaf ears.
He later agreed an extended contract that, in theory, tied him to the club until 2010, but the situation remained frosty.
Davies's last game in charge was Saturday's 2-0 home defeat by Chelsea and he said afterwards that he had not spoken to Pearson for "two or three weeks."
He is the sixth Premier League manager to leave his job this season following Steve Bruce (Birmingham City), Chris Hutchings (Wigan Athletic) Sammy Lee (Bolton Wanderers), Martin Jol (Tottenham Hotspur) and Jose Mourinho (Chelsea).
There was widespread media speculation on Monday that Liverpool's Rafael Benitez could soon swell that figure to seven as his row over transfer policy with the club's American owners showed no signs of easing over the weekend.
