Richard Hill's six-year reign as head coach of Bristol is over after the Premiership strugglers asked the 47-year-old to take a backseat role for the rest of the season as a prelude to his leaving the club one year before the end of his contract.

Hill picked the side for tonight's match at Sale but will not travel with the team to Edgeley Park. His assistant, Paul Hull, has taken training this week and will be in charge for the rest of the campaign. Hill, who has been linked to a move to Montauban next season, is understood to be negotiating a severance package.

The players were told of the change before leaving for Sale. Bristol go into tonight's match nine points adrift at the foot of the table after losing 35-3 at home last week to their relegation rivals Newcastle, conceding a bonus point in the process.

They have only won one of their last 19 league matches and the club came close to going into administration before two local businessmen invested £2m to ensure Bristol had the means to see out the rest of the season.

A number of players have been released since then, including Peter Bracken, Andrew Blowers and Kevin Maggs as Bristol trim their wage bill. Hill's recruitment plans last summer were hampered by a lack of finance and an ageing team, coupled with the impact of the experimental law variations which weakened the club's favoured and profitable driving maul.

Hill guided Bristol into the Heineken Cup last season, but a return to the first division is likely for the third time in a decade. They took a couple of years to get back into the Premiership the last time they were relegated and they would face another long climb back, even with the £3m parachute payment.

None of the players coming out of contract have signed a new deal with key figures like Shaun Perry, Dan Ward-Smith and David Lemi attracting the attention of other sides.