John Gregory: Crawley appoint ex-Aston Villa boss as manager

Crawley Town have appointed former Aston Villa, Derby and QPR boss John Gregory as their new manager.

The 59-year-old has not managed in England since he was sacked by Rangers in 2007 and has since had spells in Israel and Kazakhstan.

Gregory has signed an 18-month contract with the League One club and replaces Richie Barker, who was dismissed last week after 15 months in charge.

The Reds are on an eight-match winless streak and are 15th in the table.

Gregory won six England caps during a playing career which included spells at Villa, QPR, Derby, Bolton, Plymouth, Brighton and Northampton.

His first managerial job was at Portsmouth and he had a two-year spell in charge of Wycombe before taking over at Aston Villa, who reached the FA Cup final under him in 2000.

"I'm delighted to be here, back in English football at a club who have made tremendous progress over the last three years," said Gregory.

"When I met the directors I was impressed by their ambition to keep on moving Crawley Town forward.

"You can't stand still in football and the potential at this club is enormous.

"We have got a good squad of players and I have every confidence that they can challenge for the play-offs.

"You have to aim high and I'm really looking forward to getting on the training ground with the players and kicking on."