Former Australian women's football coach Alen Stajcic takes charge of Mariners

Stajcic is set to take charge replacing Mike Mulvey, who was sacked after the team had suffered a humiliating 2-8 loss to the Wellington Phoenix.

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@FIFAWWC

Former Australia women's football team coach Alen Stajcic has been appointed a caretaker manager of A-League side Central Coast Mariners to replace sacked Mike Mulvey.

Stajcic would take charge 'immediately,' the Mariners said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mulvey was sacked by the Mariners on Saturday after they had suffered a humiliating 2-8 loss to the Wellington Phoenix. 

There are only six games left in the A-League season, with the Central Coast rooted to the bottom of the 10-team table on just seven points.

"What we need right now is a manager who can take the helm during a crucial period. We recognise the skills Alen has and the club is confident that he will be able to draw on those skills for the advantage of the Mariners," Mariners sporting director Mike Phelan said. 

"His role is to stabilise, bring everyone together that includes the players and the staff. He will see us through until the end of the season and help position the football club going forward." 

"At the end of the season, we will assess the situation but Alen's role at the moment is to generate some momentum leading into the back end of the season, we will discuss the future during that time, and at the end of that time," he added.  

Stajcic had a successful tenure with the Matildas and guided them to the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup and the same stage at the Rio Olympics the following year. He was fired in January by Football Federation Australia after a review of the team's culture and environment.

Central Coast face the seventh-placed Newcastle Jets on Saturday.