Peter Sharp spent just over two years with Hull FC

Hull coach Peter Sharp has left the club by mutual consent.

The club have confirmed the 53-year-old Australian will leave with immediate effect and that assistant Richard Agar will take temporary charge.

Hull FC lost 34-26 at Harlequins on Sunday to leave them lying next to bottom of the Super League.

The announcement comes less than two weeks before the club's Carnegie Challenge Cup quarter-final with Bradford Bulls.

Hull chief executive James Rule said: "On behalf of the board of directors, staff and players at Hull FC, I would like to thank Peter for his contribution to the club and wish him the best of luck in his future career."

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Agar will take charge of the team for Sunday's home match against St Helens and it is his second spell in temporary control.

Sharp, the oldest coach in the Super League, was in his third season at the KC Stadium, having taken over from John Kear in April 2006.

Initially he was a huge success, guiding the team to 14 wins from his first 17 matches, earning them a second place finish and their first-ever appearance in the Grand Final.

They lost to St Helens at Old Trafford but failed to build on that and struggled at the start of the 2007 season before going on a run of results that propelled them up the table and to a final fourth place finish.

If the results don't come the man at the top has got to take the blame for that Craig Murdock, former Hull scrum-half

But this season Hull have won only four of their opening 14 league games.

They have, admittedly, been hit by an horrendous string of injuries to their frontline players, the latest of which came at the Stoop against the Quins when Richard Whiting was carried off with a broken leg.

Former Hull FC scrum half and now BBC Radio Humberside Rugby League commentator Craig Murdock believes Sharp has been released because of the poor results.

"He's been a little bit unlucky with the injury situation," said Murdock. "But we're in a result based industry.

"If the results don't come the man at the top has got to take the blame for that and the top man is Peter Sharp and, unfortunately, he's gone."

Sharp was formerly head coach at the Manley Sea Eagles in the NRL and Hull FC may turn to another Australian for a replacement.

Former Leeds coach Graham Murray was released from his job as the head coach of the North Queensland Cowboys earlier in the day.

And former FC player Steve Foulkes, who is at the Canterbury Bulldogs, are the early front-runners to replace Sharp.