Manager Tony Adams has left Portsmouth with immediate effect after the club won just two points from its last nine Premier League matches, the club said in a statement on its website.
'Portsmouth Football Club can confirm that Tony Adams and John Metgod have left their positions as manager and first team coach with immediate effect,' the statement said.
Today's announcement came despite Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie using his programme notes on Saturday to insist Adams' job was not in danger.
Speaking after the defeat to Liverpool, Adams appeared convinced he would remain in charge.
Adams said: 'At the moment everyone is saying they want me to do the job, so I'll get on with it. We've got 13 games to go and have to play the teams around us. March on.'
Portsmouth's owner Alexandre Gaydamak is known to be ready to sell the club and in December stated he could 'no longer invest the time required to oversee the running of the club'.
Preserving Portsmouth's top-flight status is a clear priority, and would ensure the club retains its worth to potential investors.
Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who prior to his stint at Stamford Bridge worked at Portsmouth as technical director, has this morning been linked with a return to the club.
Former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley has also been suggested as a possible successor to 42-year-old Adams.
The Portsmouth job was Adams' first frontline managerial post in the Premier League, however he had a spell in charge at Wycombe from November 2003 to November 2004, and later developed his coaching knowledge on the staff at Feyenoord and Utrecht in Holland.
Adams steered Portsmouth to just two league wins, against Sunderland and Blackburn, and saw star players Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra leave the club in big-money transfers.
Portsmouth's next match sees Manchester City visit Fratton Park on Saturday.
