Mick McCarthy named as Apoel Nicosia's new manager

The former Ireland manager joins the champions of Cyprus on a 19-month deal that runs to May 2022

Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Former Ireland boss Mick McCarthy has been announced as the new manager of Apoel Nicosia.

The 61-year-old joins the champions of Cyprus on a 19-month deal that runs to May 2022.

He will be joined by his assistant Terry Connor, with a statement on the Apoel website saying the club hopes the pair can return them to good performances and achieve their goal of winning titles.

✍️ Έναρξη συνεργασίας με Mick #McCarthy. #APOELFC
ℹ️ https://t.co/XeqdeeSycH pic.twitter.com/QvRR5Hr41Y

— APOEL FC (@apoelfcofficial) November 2, 2020

McCarthy has been out of work since April after the FAI opted to accelerate the succession plan with Stephen Kenny due to Covid-19 deferring the Euro 2021 play-off against Slovakia by six months.

While the former Millwall, Sunderland, and Wolves boss has been linked with jobs in the English Championship, he flew to Cyprus last week to watch Apoel face league leaders Apollon on Saturday - a game which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Apoel fired manager Marinos Ouzounidis last Monday following a poor run of form, including the club’s exit from the Europa League against Czech side Slovan Liberec.

They are currently languishing in tenth spot of the 14-team top-flight with nine points from eight games.

It was the second stint of Ouzounidis as Apoel manager, who was the Nicosia team’s 12th permanent coach since 2015, having taken over from Norwegian Kare Ingebrigtsen last February.

In 16 games, Ouzounidis won just five games, drawing another five, and suffering six defeats.

His team failed to score in eight of those games.

It’s a far cry from the club’s heady days. They are the most successful club in Cyprus with 28 league titles but their fortunes have plummeted since the abandoned 2019-20 season which saw Apoel out of title contention.

In 2012, they qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals where they were eventually knocked out by Real Madrid.

McCarthy’s first match in charge of APOEL will be against second-bottom Ethnikos Achna on Saturday.