FORGOTTEN Newcastle cult hero Temur Ketsbaia has been sacked by Cyprus.
The Georgian lost his job as manager days after an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat to Kosovo in the Uefa Nations League.
The former Wolves and AEK Athens player was in his third year with the Cyprus national team, now ranked No. 127 by Fifa.
Cyprus dropped 20 places in the global rankings over the course of his tenure.
The Cyprus federation have not announced an interim coach to take over for their Nations League games next month.
His two wins this year came against San Marino in June and a 1-0 victory over Lithuania in their first Nations League match last week.
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The nation lost all eight games of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign and finished rock bottom of their group.
The pot included Scotland, Norway and his home country Georgia, as well as eventual winners Spain.
The 56-year-old joined the Magpies in 1997 and scored 14 goals in 107 appearances during his three-year spell at St James’ Park.
But arguably his most memorable moment in black and white came during a Premier League match against Bolton in March 1998.
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After coming off the bench in the 79th minute of the clash with the score at 1-1, Ketsbaia came out of nowhere to score a last-minute winner.
He then whipped his shirt off, launched it into the crowd and proceeded to kick lumps out of the advertising boards surrounding the pitch.
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Many Newcastle fans were left baffled by the outrageous celebration, but Ketsbaia explained that it was his way of letting out the frustration that he had built-up after being named on the bench earlier in the day.
Ketsbaia also coached Georgia for five years between 2009 and 2014, and later worked for AEK and Cypriot clubs APOEL and Anorthosis.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
