Floriana this evening expressed surprise that its coach Roddy Collins had signed a 12-month contract with Cork City FC of Ireland and said it had never released him from his contract.

In a statement after the Irish media reported Mr Collin’s appointment, Floriana said that the Cork City General Manager had mistakenly claimed that Mr. Collins "is a free agent".

“At no time have Floriana F.C. given Mr. Collins permission to speak with any other club and furthermore have not released him from his contract. Floriana F.C. have fulfilled in excess all contractual obligations to Mr. Collins since his arrival in Malta,” the Maltese club said.

“Until last evening Mr. Collins was asking for us to release him from his contract however he fully understood that to do so meant some form of compensation had to be made from Cork City F.C..

“We will be contacting Cork City F.C. owner Mr Tom Coughlan to come to an arrangement where we will receive compensation to not bring this matter further than an amicable settlement. We do not wish to bring the Maltese Football Association (MFA) or Football Association of Ireland (FAI) into this matter as we believe that a professional club of Cork City's stature will wish to do the right thing for their reputation and image, the good of the game and for the betterment of both clubs,” Floriana said.

Earlier, Collins was reported to have told the Irish media that he was looking forward to the challenge of managing Cork, particularly taking the team into the Europa League.