FORMER Swindon Town head coach Ben Garner has been sacked by Charlton Athletic less than six months after switching the County Ground for The Valley.

The South London side have won just five of their 20 matches so far this season and sit 17th in League One.

Addicks owner Thomas Sandgaard said recent form had left the club in a situation where they “had to act.”

Despite leading Swindon into the League Two play-offs at the end of his first and only campaign at the helm, Garner controversially agreed a three-year contract with Charlton just days after Swindon's play-off exit to Port Vale.

In doing so, he also persuaded several of Swindon's out-of-contract players to follow him down the M4.

In a statement from Charlton, owner Sandgaard said: "We would like to thank Ben for his hard work and commitment to the job.

“In his time at Charlton, the club has achieved some stand-out results, including big wins against some of the better teams in this league.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to sustain a consistency of results and our league position and recent form have left us in a situation where we had to act to give ourselves the best opportunity to get the most from this season as well as building a positive and winning environment for future years.

“We wish Ben the best for the future. Our search for a new manager has begun.”

Garner's final game was Friday's 1-0 defeat at home to struggling Cheltenham Town, after which the Addicks were booed off by their supporters.

Post-match, the former Bristol Rovers boss told the South London Press that continuously sacking managers would not solve the club's "cultural" problems.

Garner said: "You can keep changing manager every three or four months if you want. It's deeper than that. It's a cultural issue. It's a mentality issue. That's harder to change but that's what we've got to do.

"I want to do that. I'm very willing to do that. I know I'll be successful if I'm given the opportunity to do that."

Garner won just three of his last 16 games in charge of Charlton and leaves the Valley having failed to claim victory in any of his previous five.

Having collected 1.70 points per game as Town boss, Garner managed just 1.48 points per game with the South-Londoners.

The ex-Swindon head coach guided the Addicks to an upcoming League Cup fourth-round tie with Brighton and Hove Albion, and Charlton have an FA Cup second-round replay with League Two Stockport County to play on Wednesday night.