Former Sunderland and Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has made a surprise return to football with APOEL Nicosia.
The 62-year-old has agreed at the Cypriot side until May 2022 and will once again work with assistant Terry Connor, rekindling a partnership seen at Wolves, Ipswich Town and with the Irish national side.
McCarthy has been out of football since leaving his post with Ireland in April, and has not worked at club level since being sacked by Ipswich in May 2018.
APOEL have lifted the Cypriot domestic title a record 28 times, but have made a poor start to the season and were knocked out of the Europa League play-offs by Slovan Liberec.
Former coach Marinos Ouzounidis was shown the exit door following a run of four games without a win, and McCarthy becomes the club's 13th permanent coach since 2015.
A club statement on APOEL's wesbite reads: "We welcome both of them to APOEL and we wish them to immediately help the team return to good and substantial performances so that it can meet its goals, which are to win titles."
McCarthy was appointed as Howard Wilkinson's successor at Sunderland in March 2003 but was unable to halt the Black Cats' slide into the Championship.
Sunderland suffered a painful penalty shootout defeat to Crystal Palace in the playoffs, but stormed to the title the following season.
However, the Black Cats struggled on their return to the top flight and McCarthy was sacked following a three-year spell in the dugout.
