John Farrugia, the long-serving Go Mobile Sirens player who is also the club's vice-president, has taken over the reins of the team on a caretaker basis after coach Joe Attard quit his post.

On Tuesday evening, the club and Attard reached an agreement to part company with immediate effect.

It is understood that Attard was unhappy with the latest results obtained by Sirens in the national league.

On Sunday, Sirens suffered their second defeat against champions Sliema, 10-7. They now trail leaders Neptunes by four points.

Farrugia will have Dejan Simeonov, of Macedonia, as his right-hand man. Simeonov, who joined the Sirens coaching staff this season, is currently in charge of the club's junior team.

Sources have told The Times that Farrugia is likely to stop playing for the time being as he wants to concentrate on coaching the team though he may still be included in the line-up for the coming matches.

This year, Sirens were runners-up in the Winter League, lifted the Sports Writers Association Cup and are currently third in the national league, the most important competition in the waterpolo calendar.

Farrugia and Simeonov are expected to make their first appearance on the Sirens' bench on Saturday when the St Paul's Bay team clashes with Neptunes.

Neptunes are the only unbeaten side in Division One this season but were held to a 5-5 draw by Sirens earlier this month.