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Owen Coyle has been sacked by Wigan, as owner Dave Whelan reacted to fan power an hour after a home defeat.

Latics lost at the DW Stadium on Sunday for the third time in a week - this time to Derby - and some fans turned on Coyle after a horror first half-hour when they conceded three soft goals.

Coyle’s men could have moved within range of the Championship play-off places with a win against the revitalised Rams – now managed by Steve McClaren who, ironically, missed out on the Wigan job in the summer.

The Scot was summoned to meet Whelan for crisis talks afterwards - despite his side coming back with a header from Nick Powell and twice hitting the woodwork – and the pair decided to end his spell.

And the club confirmed his departure in a statement this morning. In it, Coyle said: “It is with great sadness that we have made this decision and I would like to thank all my football staff and the staff at the club, who have been very supportive of me in my time here. I am confident that with this set of players, the team can keep moving in the right direction.”

Former Bolton boss Coyle becomes the third manager to be axed on Sunday, following Fulham's Martin Jol and Dave Jones of Sheffield Wednesday.

Wigan were unbeaten in their first 10 home games, but have gone down to Brighton, Zulte Waregem in the Europa League and now Derby, with a heavy schedule taking its toll.

Coyle inherited a squad weakened by the loss of players following ­relegation from the Premier League and had no time to spend the £12million from the sale of James ­McCarthy to former boss Roberto Martinez at Everton.

The Scot was fuming about the reaction of some of Sunday’s crowd.

He said: “I will take what criticism comes my way. There is expectation at Wigan and there is a majority who are outstanding.

“But there is a section that is ultra-critical. We have already seen that in the treatment they give Jordi Gomez. We should all be sticking together.”

Minutes after Coyle spoke those words, he and Whelan – back from a holiday in Barbados – discussed the future and the 47-year-old's reign ended dramatically.

Whelan picked Coyle ahead of McClaren, who had the last laugh as Derby marched into the top six and their buoyant away support sang his name while Latics fans howled for the head of their chosen manager.

Midfield general Craig Bryson quickly curled a free-kick beyond Lee Nicholls for Derby’s opener.

Ben Watson made a horrible mess of a pass to play in Simon Dawkins, who scored a simple second.

Then James McClean bundled into the back of Russell Martin to concede a penalty.

The striker stroked home the spot-kick as the locals chanted “We want Coyle out!”