Limerick FC have appointed the club's Academy Director, Willie Boland, as their interim manager.
The former Coventry City, Cardiff City and Hartlepool United player will take charge of his first game this weekend when his side travel to Richmond Park on Friday.
The move comes after former boss Martin Russell left the club following their defeat 3-0 defeat at home to Cork City.
No date has been given as to when exactly the club will be appointing a new permanent manager, or whether they will continue with Boland past the end of the current season.
He will now work with the senior team alongside strength and conditioning coach Joe Gamble and goalkeeping coach, Eddie Hickey.
"I think the lads have a good platform to go on and do well in the coming weeks," he said.
The former Premier League midfielder admitted the news came as a "bit of a shock", but admitted he was happy to take on the role.
"I was in UL on Monday morning and I know that Martin and the board were sitting down for their meeting. I went away home having done the stuff that I needed to do here. I got a phone-call to ask if I could come back out and that’s when I learned that Martin had departed.
"After a meeting with the club and the staff, it was decided I would take over on an interim period."
As a player, he made 337 club appearances over a 17-year period, inducing one game for Limerick in 2010.
Boland has spent his time developing his coaching skills by training within the Middlesborough Academy and working with their Under-14s side. He also spent time working with Hartlepool College.
"People would say I’m a little bit different from a coaching point of view. I’m not as abrasive. I will put my points across but I feel that the players at this moment in time that there’s a good bunch of lads there; there’s some good players at the club.
"There’s not an awful lot to be done except give them the belief they, which they have already, to go up to St. Pats and get a result.
"I think the players fully believe that they can go up there and get a result. So, we’ll do our best to get them prepared for that and get them set up for that game, going up there with a positive attitude to go and get a positive result."
He added: "As a player, even though the manager has left the club, they have their own professional pride. They’re professional players, they understand how football works. It can be quite volatile especially in relation to the Managers position. So, they’ll be focused on the game no doubt about that."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
