By Alasdair Lamont BBC Sport Online

Ivano Bonetti's turbulent two-year reign as manager of Dundee came to a shuddering halt on Tuesday.

The charismatic Italian brought an abundance of Latin flair to Tayside, but, unfortunately for Bonetti, results on the park did not match the style of football.

Bonetti arrived at Dens Park in controversial circumstances, replacing Jocky Scott, who was sacked despite a decent track record as manager.

Along with the new manager came his brother Dario as assistant manager, as well as a host of other compatriots.

Bonetti sacked

The Bonettis were part of a new order at Dens Park, a vision of the Marr brothers, Peter and Jimmy, who had great plans for their club.

But it was a relationship that turned sour as the club failed to hit the heights expected by the Marrs, despite a flurry of transfer activity.

Caniggia's signing was a massive coup

Bonetti immediately set about shaping his own squad on his arrival in Scotland, transfer-listing a number of Scots who had helped Dundee back into the SPL.

He also made an unimpressive debut, getting himself sent off against Motherwell.

His side attracted praise for their flamboyant football, but three red cards in the first three games of the season led to criticism of play-acting and cynicism.

Bonetti pulled off the biggest coup of his Dundee career in October 2000 when he persuaded Argentine World Cup star Claudio Caniggia to sign for the club.

Caniggia was a revelation, causing a sudden surge in sales of blonde wigs and Argentina strips in Dundee, before eventually winning a move to Rangers.

But even early in his reign, all was not well, with high profile fall-outs with players including Patrizio Billio and Lee Wilkie making the headlines.

Temuri Ketsbaia was another big name signing

As early as April 2001 the club were forced to publicly back the manager as they just made the top six in Bonetti's first season in charge.

But in August, chief executive Peter Marr said he was delighted with the club's progress under Bonetti and had begun discussions about extending his original three-year contract, and in November both parties revealed a new five-year deal was on the cards.

But further high-profile signings like Temuri Ketsbaia and Fan Zhiyi failed to improve results last season and Dundee missed out on a top-six place.

Recent months saw mounting speculation over Bonetti's future, with the manager missing games to get married in Italy, but both club and manager denied his reign was coming to an end.

The truth finally emerged on Tuesday, although Bonetti is sure to have more to say on the subject when he speaks to the media on Wednesday.