Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Dunfermline, which sparked impromptu protests against chairman Rod Petrie and the rest of the Easter Road board, proved the end for Calderwood after little more than a year in the post.

Hibs had been showing signs of improvement with a win at St Mirren Park followed by a draw at Celtic Park in their following Clydesdale Bank Premier League game, but the defeat by the Pars left them one point off the bottom, although they have three clubs below them.

Former Northampton and Nottingham Forest manager Calderwood took charge of 49 games after leaving his post as Newcastle assistant manager in October last year but guided Hibs to just 12 wins.

The club confirmed his exit in a statement, which read: "Hibernian FC announced today that the board of directors had relieved Colin Calderwood of his duties as manager of the club."

Petrie added: "I would like to thank Colin for his time as manager.

"The board decided that it was in the club's best interests to find a new manager to take Hibernian forward."

Calderwood said he and his players had to take "whatever's thrown at us" following yesterday's defeat, although he vowed to "come back and fight another day".

The 46-year-old also accepted the "majority" of the responsibility for the loss, although much of the fans' anger was vented towards Petrie.

The move comes two days before the club's AGM - last year John Hughes was fired on the morning of the meeting.

It follows a summer of speculation over Calderwood's future after both Birmingham and Nottingham Forest earmarked him as a potential assistant to their managers.

Hibs reportedly turned down a compensation offer of several hundred thousand pounds from Birmingham as former Newcastle manager Chris Hughton looked to be reunited with Calderwood at St Andrews.

Calderwood is the third manager in two-and-a-half years to fall foul of the Easter Road board's expectations.

Mixu Paatelainen, who took over after John Collins quit in December 2007, left despite securing two top-six finishes and John Hughes was sacked last year, months after leading Hibs into the Europa League with a fourth-place finish.

Hibs finished 10th last season and last month posted their first annual deficit (£900,000) in seven years to leave supporters questioning those in the boardroom.

Frank Dougan, the retired treasurer of the Hibs Supporters Association, felt Calderwood's departure was predictable ahead of the AGM.

Dougan, a fan of more than 40 years, said: "It is no surprise. You could have put money on that happening.

"We have gone through so many managers in the past eight or nine years but there is one man who is still there - Petrie.

"They had the chance to get money for him in the summer and didn't take it.

"Questions have to be asked of Petrie and the whole board and I, for one, will be asking them at the AGM.

"There is no point in appointing new managers every year, there is no continuity at the club. "It is a disgrace."