NICOSIA — Cypriot club APOEL fired former Ireland coach Mick McCarthy on Wednesday after the team's fourth defeat in a row.

In a terse, two-sentence statement, APOEL said it parted ways with McCarthy and wished him and his assistant Terry Connor the best in the future. 

APOEL signed McCarthy to a 19-month contract just two months ago to replace Marinos Ouzounides, but the team is currently in 11th place in the 14-team Cypriot league.

APOEL said former player Savvas Poursaitidis would replace McCarthy as coach. 

The Greek-born Poursaitidis is APOEL's seventh coach in 17 months as the team's performances have failed to meet fans' expectations and turned up the heat on management to produce results quickly.

APOEL said in a statement that Poursaitidis will stay in charge until May 2022 and will immediately take over the team's practices.

"We welcome Savvas Poursaitidis as our head coach after his tenure as a player and coach of our soccer academy and we wish him our best in helping APOEL achieve its aims," the team said on its website.

Poursaitidis spent four seasons at APOEL and was part of the team's greatest success to date in 2012 when it reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League. 

He also played 12 games with Cyprus' national team after becoming a Cypriot citizen.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports