Andy Potts

CSKA have replaced head coach Juande Ramos - after just nine games in charge.

The Spaniard, who had previously coached Sevilla, Real Madrid and London club Tottenham Hotspur, took charge of his first game on September 12 - leading the side to a 3-0 win at home to Krylya Sovietov.

But Sunday's 3-1 home defeat at the hands of FK Rostov saw him leave the club "by mutual consent" on Monday afternoon.

While an official statement from the club confirmed the departure, reports in the Spanish media suggest that money was at the base of the problem.

Faced with a squad weakened by player sales, and forced to field several inexperienced youngsters in his teams, Ramos was expected to demand huge investment in the team in the next transfer window.

Leading Spanish paper AS reported: "We learned that CSKA intend to find a coach who will make fewer financial demands."

Ramos is replaced by Leonid Slutsky, previously with Krylya Sovietov Samara.

Slutsky has long been seen as one of the brightest up-and-coming Russian coaches in the game. Just 38 years old, he got his first taste of top-flight coaching in 2005 at FK Moskva.

By 2007 he had led the unfashionable side to a best-ever fourth-placed finish and took them into the UEFA Cup for the first time since their complicated divorce from Torpedo.

Strangely that was not enough to keep him in a job at the Streltsov Stadium - he was replaced by Oleg Blokhin and the side's fortunes slumped almost immediately - so he moved to Krylya Sovietov for the 2008 season.

Once again he took an unheralded outfit into Europe, but this season's campaign in Samara has been dogged by problems.

The club's Europa League campaign ended in humiliation at the hands of Irish amateurs St. Patrick's Athletic, and an on-going scandal engulfed the team amid reports that they conspired to "throw" a match against Terek Grozny in June.

Ramos, who came to CSKA after Brazilian playing legend Zico left blaming his "unprofessional" players, had little time to make an impact.

His league record brought three wins, two defeats and a draw, which left the club in fifth place - four points adrift of Champions League qualification and in the midst of a battle to secure European football next season.

In Europe, defeats to Wolfsburg and Manchester United leave CSKA struggling to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

Ramos results

Sept. 12 Krylya Sovietov (h) 3-0

Sept. 15 Wolfsburg (a) 1-3 (Champions League)

Sept. 20 Dinamo (h) 3-0

Sept. 26 Zenit (a) 0-2

Sept. 30 Besiktas (h) 2-1 (CL)

Oct. 4 Kuban (h) 4-0

Oct. 17 Spartak Nalchik (a) 1-1

Oct. 21 Man Utd (h) 0-1 (CL)

Oct. 25 FK Moskva (h) 1-3