Jan Siewert has become the first manager of the new football season to be sacked, dismissed after just seven months in charge of the relegated Yorkshire club.

A 2-1 home defeat to Fulham proved to be the final straw for Huddersfield chairman Phil Hodgkinson, who had met with the 36-year-old German this week to express his dissatisfaction at the club’s current predicament.

It is believed that Siewert was actually dismissed on Wednesday, following a demoralising home defeat to Lincoln in the Carabao Cup.

But, after a meeting with the owner, Siewert was handed a reprieve, primarily because he had already made team selections and put in place tactics for Friday night’s game with Fulham.

Siewert’s fate was so settled that a statement had even been drafted announcing his departure with coach Mark Hudson lined up to take the job on a temporary basis.

Hudson, a former player with Huddersfield, will be in charge for the visit to another of his former sides Cardiff on Wednesday and will be given the chance to win the job on a full-time basis.