Former Socceroos coaching target, Dick Advocaat, has been sacked by Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.

The Dutchman took the job in the Russian Premier League instead of becoming Australia's national team coach in late 2007, turning down Football Federation Australia's offer of $4million a year.

Zenit decided to end their relationship with Advocaat after a 2-0 home loss to Tom Tomsk on the weekend which saw the slip to 7th on the table.

Advocaat will now be free to take over as Belgian national coach after already agreeing a deal whilst he was in charge of Zenit.

"Unfortunately, after Advocaat's decision to take over the Belgium national team, Zenit's results have notably gone down," the club said in a statement.

"The club's leadership and fans are not satisfied with the place Zenit holds in the Russian championships."