Crawley Town has fired head coach Colin Kazim-Richards following a difficult start to the season. The Red Devils sit isolated at the bottom of League Two after losing 3-2 at home to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night.
Following that defeat, the team trails 23rd-placed Northampton by five points. The club sits six points away from safety, with Rotherham holding 22nd place at 11 points.
During their opening ten matches, the club managed only one victory while suffering seven defeats. This poor run prompted team bosses to end Kazim-Richards' tenure in the dugout. The club announced the dismissal of the former Premier League striker through a social media statement.
The statement read: "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."
It added: "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."
The announcement continued: "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."
Prior to his sacking, reporters asked Kazim-Richards if he intended to resign after the loss to Shrewsbury. He stated: "If I felt like I couldn't and if what we gave the players was not enough then I would definitely think about it. But that is not the case, so the club and Raph [owner Raphael Khalili] it depends on what they feel."
During his extensive playing career, the journeyman forward represented 18 different clubs across eight nations. He made 27 Premier League appearances, scoring one goal for Sheffield United during the 2006-07 campaign. In the Championship, the striker made 131 appearances and scored 20 goals.
As a youth player, Kazim-Richards spent time in the setups at QPR and Arsenal before eventually taking the Crawley job. His career also included stints with Derby, Brighton, Blackburn, Bury, and Celtic. Abroad, he played for Fenerbahce, Fatih Karagumruk, Feyenoord, Galatasaray, Toulouse, and Olympiacos.
