BREAKING NEWS: Swansea replace Guidolin with Bradley

Swansea City have sacked manager Francesco Guidolin on the day of his 61st birthday and replaced him with former United States national team boss Bob Bradley.

Guidolin has only been in charge of the Welsh side since January and is removed from his position after picking up just four points in the first seven games of this season's Premier League, making him the first top-flight casualty of the campaign.

The Italian's last game in charge was Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Liverpool, where he saw Swansea lose a first-half lead.

Bradley, 58, leaves his role with Ligue 2 club Le Havre to take charge of Swansea, with his first game being a trip to play Arsenal on October 15 after the international break.

He has previously managed Stabaek in Norway's top-flight and had a two-year spell in charge of Egypt's national team, but is best known for his five years in charge of USA between 2006 and 2011, where he led the country to the 2010 World Cup and reached the last 16.

Le Havre, who have appointed Oswald Tanchot to replace Bradley, thanked the American after confirming his departure and revealed they had been planning for his exit.

"Swansea City can confirm that the club has parted company with manager Francesco Guidolin," read the club's statement.

"He will be replaced by former USA national team manager Bob Bradley with the club having agreed his release from French club Le Havre after their fixture with Sochaux tonight."

Chairman Huw Jenkins said Guidolin had paid the price for recent results after helping to keep Swansea up in the second half of last season, despite missing some time through illness.

"We are obviously disappointed to part company with Francesco," he said.

"We felt he deserved his opportunity after the work he did last season. Unfortunately we have not been able to carry performances over from last season and we felt we needed to change things as soon as possible in order to move forward in a positive way.

"We would like to thank Francesco and his staff for their services to the club and wish them well for the future.

"We are delighted Bob has agreed to join us. He is highly regarded as a coach and has a wealth of experience on the international and domestic front.

"He is well aware of the club's footballing philosophy and will provide us with strong leadership qualities and a renewed belief to compete at this level.

"It is never easy changing managers, but we are looking at a long-term appointment and we are confident Bob can settle us down and stabilise matters on and off the pitch."