Former Celtic striker sacked as manager after just seven months in charge

Former Celtic striker Colin Kazim-Richards has been sacked as Crawley Town manager after just seven months in charge.

The 40-year-old, who spent a brief spell at Parkhead in 2016, was relieved of his duties following a disappointing start to the League Two campaign.

Kazim-Richards was appointed in March and successfully guided Crawley to EFL survival last season, but a run of just one league victory in ten matches has ultimately cost him his job.

Tuesday night’s 3-2 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town left Crawley rooted to the bottom of League Two, prompting the club to make a managerial change.

Assistant manager Julian Gray has also departed, alongside director of football Erdem Konyar.

Confirming the decision, Crawley said in a statement: “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.”

The club added: “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.”

Kazim-Richards had addressed speculation surrounding his future immediately after Tuesday’s defeat, insisting he remained confident in his ability to turn the club’s fortunes around.

He said: “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.”

The former Turkey international joined Celtic on a two-and-a-half-year deal in February 2016, scoring twice in 13 appearances before departing Glasgow at the end of the campaign.

His playing career spanned 18 clubs across eight countries, including spells with Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Feyenoord and Derby County, before retiring in 2023.