Celtic Football Club has confirmed it has sacked head coach John Barnes after its shock exit from the Scottish Cup.

In a statement issued at 1715 GMT, the club said it had terminated Barnes' contract with immediate effect.

Barnes, appointed just seven months ago, is out along with assistants Eric Black and Terry McDermott.

Kenny Dalglish will take over as interim manager until a new head coach can be found.

Chief executive Allan MacDonald said: "The first team at Celtic is the mainstay of our football organisation.

"The head coach is responsible for performance, selection, tactics and player acquisition.

"We're now, as Kenny indicated, pursuing the appointment of a new head coach as quickly as we can.

"But just to reiterate the point I made, we will not sacrifice quality for speed."

The upheaval follows Glasgow club's Scottish Cup defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Tuesday.

Celtic lost 3-1 to Caley, a result widely held to be the club's worst in the last 30 years.

The secretary of the Association of Celtic Supporters Clubs Peter Rafferty is confident Kenny Dalglish can return the club to former glories.

He said: "At least we are keeping continuity in the club with Kenny in charge. It is important to have some stability.

"I can't really feel that sorry for John Barnes. He had a fixed idea about team tactics and brought a lot of the problems on himself.

"It was common knowledge the players weren't comfortable and the supporters were clearly unhappy.

"Celtic fans have been brought up on a diet of attacking football, glamorous football - but that's not what we were getting."

Number of 'issues'

Former director Brian Dempsey told BBC Scotland: "Celtic is a difficult club for anyone to either play at or be involved with in management at any level.

"As Mr Barnes put it at his press conference, to 'cut his teeth' into management at Celtic was an almost impossible task from the beginning."

"I think in the short term Kenny Dalglish has to use all the wealth of his experience in playing and football management and fill the breach just now.

"This is not just a matter of head coach. There are a number of issues that have to be resolved at Celtic Football Club, a number of problems that still have to be addressed.

"Anyone must never in good management panic and react to situations no matter how dire or how dangerous they are."