Kazim-Richards sacked after Crawley Town’s woeful start to League Two campaign

It is not unexpected and comes hours after the Reds suffered a seventh defeat in their opening 10 league games, a 3-2 reverse at home to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night.

A statement issued by the club said: “Crawley Town Football Club can confirm that Head Coach Colin Kazim-Richards and Assistant Head Coach Julian Gray have been relieved of their duties with immediate effect.

"Director of Football Erdem Konyar will also be leaving the club.

"The club would like to place on record its sincere thanks to Colin and Julian, who joined during a challenging period and played an important role in securing the club’s EFL status at the end of last season.

"We would also like to thank Erdem for his hard work and commitment since returning to the club last year.

"All three depart with the best wishes of everyone at Crawley Town, and we wish them every success in their future endeavours.

"The club will make no further comment at this time.”

Kazim-Richards admitted after last night’s defeat to Shrewsbury his future was in the hands of the club’s hierarchy.

The search is now on for a manager who can turn their fortunes around and pull them away from the bottom of League Two and the threat of their 16-year stay in the Football League coming to an end.

Kazim-Richards was appointed a few games from the end of last season after Scott Lindsey was sacked, and the former Blackburn and Brighton striker guided the Reds to safety, secured with a final day draw with Salford.

In recent weeks fans have become increasingly disillusioned with the Reds’ form and calls for a change in thedugout have steadily grown.

The former Derby County was brought in at the back end of last season with seven games remaining and the seismic task of keeping Crawley in the Football League. He did just that, securing the Reds place in League Two for this season and avoiding relegation by just one point on the final day of the season.

Whether some agreed with the decision to give Kazim-Richards the job permanently or not, he was given a chance, which has evidently not worked out with an 11% win rate and an average of 0.6 points per game.

All the positives and promising signs from pre-season and the opening couple of performances – which had given fans some hope that this season would be different – soon evaporated when the results did not stack up.

Just one win and seven defeats leaves Crawley languishing at the foot of the table on five points – already six points adrift from safety, forcing the owners’ hand and making them make a change ahead of Tranmere Rovers’ visit to Broadfield this weekend.

Assistant Head Coach Gray, who joined with the former Turkey international when he arrived at the club, has also been relieved of his duties as well as Director of Football Konyar, who departs after a second spell with the club which began in November of last year.

Konyar oversaw the last two transfer windows which, going by results, have not worked out – so while that may be a surprise to some, it was apparent that change was needed at the top.

Following the late defeat to Shrewsbury, Kazim-Richards looked a beaten man and said he would speak with owner Raphael Khalili following the game – and we can only assume that that call was his final goodbye.

What happens next is the question fans will be asking. Who do they bring in? Will there be someone in post before Saturday? If so, who is most likely to be appointed? If not, who will take charge of the team on Saturday?

One thing is for sure … whoever comes in has a massive job ahead of them.