Aston Villa have parted ways with assistant head coach Craig Shakespeare.

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That's according to a claim made by The Telegraph journalist Matt Law, who revealed in a post on Twitter that the 58-year-old coach, who Dean Smith brought into the Villa Park setup last season, is also believed to have left the club following the sacking of the 50-year-old manager.

Law continued to state that this decision could suggest that the club's owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wesley Edens, have a successor for Smith already lined up, something which may well lead to a quick appointment of a new Aston Villa manager.

In his tweet, the journalist said: "Understand Craig Shakespeare has also left Aston Villa with Dean Smith which points to a quick appointment/replacement."

Fans will be buzzing

While the decision to sack Smith appeared to generate a rather mixed reaction from Villa fans, should NSWE indeed already have started negotiations with a potential replacement for the 50-year-old, it will undoubtedly be news that will leave the Villa Park faithful buzzing.

Indeed, with the club currently on a run of five straight defeats in the Premier League, there are quite clearly issues within the first-team squad that quickly need resolving, as, heading into the international break, the Villans find themselves just two points above the top-flight relegation zone - on ten points after 11 games played.

And, considering the club spent a whopping £89.84m in the summer transfer window, with a number of extremely talented players such as Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey making moves to Villa Park, it is clear for all to see that Villa's performance in the league has simply not been good enough so far this term.

However, the start of the international break would appear to be the perfect time to bring in a new manager, as the incoming coach would have two weeks to settle into the club, be able to begin installing his own tactical ideas and philosophies into the players and have ample to assess the current ability level of his squad ahead of the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion on November 20.

As such, as long as NSWE do indeed have Smith's replacement already lined up, the news that Shakespeare has also packed his bags could bring with it a considerable silver lining for the club. Supporters, therefore, will be delighted if it hurries up the appointment of a successor.

In other news: John Percy delivers big Aston Villa manager update that should leave fans buzzing