Mick McCarthy sacked by Apoel after just 9 games

Mick McCarthy, the former Republic of Ireland and Wolves manager, has been sacked by Nicosia club Apoel after just two months in charge.

There were rumours thorughout the past week in local media that McCarthy’s position at Apoel was hanging by a thread after a string of poor results and the 2-1 defeat on Tuesday evening by Doxa Katokopias was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

In the nine games in charge, eight in the league and one in the Cyprus cup, Apoel managed just 3 wins, one draw and five defeats that saw the club drop into the relegation zone.

The current Apoel board are no strangers in sacking coaches as McCarthy was the 16th one to face the chop in just eight years. The most remarkable thing though is that in these years Apoel were crowned champions seven times, the only year they missed out was last season when the league was interrupted due to the pandemic.

Funnily enough Apoel signed two players in the January transfer period, Jack Byrne and Joe Garner, both handpicked by the Irish coach. McCarthy had signed a contract till 2022.

Savvas Pousaitides, a former Apoel player and Nea Salamina coach is expected to take over the most precarious position in Cyprus football.

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