The former Derby County striker has paid the price for a dreadful start to the season which has left the League Two club rooted to the foot of the table

Former Derby County striker Colin Kazim-Richards has been sacked as Crawley Town manager following their dismal start to the season.

The former Sheffield United forward has paid the price for a dreadful opening to the campaign which has left them rock-bottom of League Two with the club managing just one win from their opening 10 games.

Defeat to Shrewsbury in midweek was the final straw for the club's board with Kazim-Richards' fate confirmed after the game. Assistant head coach Julian Gray and director of football Erdem Konyar have also left. Crawley have moved quickly to appoint Kevin Blackwell, the former assistant of Neil Warnock, on a temporary basis as they seek a permanent successor to Kazim-Richards.

The club 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.

"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."

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Speaking after the defeat to Shrewsbury, and asked whether he could transform Crawley's fortunes, Kazim-Richards said: "I feel I can. If I'm given the time is another question. It's not a question I can answer for you.

"I think we need a little bit more experience, a little bit in terms of game management and things like that. But we'll see what happens, right?"

Kazim-Richards was a popular figure at Derby and enjoyed an excellent career as a player which began with QPR and Arsenal before he became professional at Bury. He played for Brighton and Sheffield United before moving to Europe where he enjoyed spells with Fenerbahçe, Toulouse, Galatasaray, Olympiacos, Bursaspor and Feyenoord.

He also had spells with Blackburn Rovers, Celtic and Derby, and later played in Brazil and Mexico for Coritiba, Corinthians, Lobos BUAP, Veracruz and Pachuca.

He earned 37 caps for Turkey, scoring twice, and also represented the country at U21 and B levels.