The decision followed Tuesday night’s 3-2 home defeat by Shrewsbury Town, which left Crawley six points from safety at the bottom of the division.

It was the club’s seventh defeat in 10 league matches, with only one League Two win so far, which puts them on their lowest points total in a season since promotion to the EFL in 2011.

Assistant manager Julian Gray has also been relieved of his duties, while director of football Erdem Konyar will leave the club.

Crawley have quickly been cut adrift at the bottom of the fourth tier, six points from Rotherham United in 22nd, already putting them in survival mode.

Town have yet to face The Red Devils this term, and Ian Holloway's side will not get a crack at them until New Year's Day, when they visit the Nigel Eady County Ground under a new manager.

A club statement said: “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.”

Kazim-Richards was appointed in March, taking over from former Swindon boss Scott Lindsey, and helping Crawley avoid relegation with two wins and three draws in their final seven matches.

The club finished one point and one place above the League Two relegation zone last season, with a final-day draw against Salford City managing to keep them out of the National League.

The first sacking coming at the end of October was something of a surprise, with many teams struggling who would have expected to have been higher up the table.

The likes of Alex Bruce at Rotherham and Chris Hogg at Northampton Town are on the hot seat, whilst Jon Brady would have been in trouble at Port Vale prior to an uptick over the last three games.

Holloway was coming under increasing pressure, even if The Adver understands that he was not at immediate risk of losing his job, prior to Tuesday's big win over Barnet.