Gary Caldwell back in football as former Celtic and Hibs man appointed manager of English side

Gary Caldwell is back in football after being appointed as the new manager of Exeter City.

The former Celtic and Scotland defender was most recently assistant coach at Hibs but was sacked along with manager Shaun Maloney in April after just four ill-fated months in the Easter Road dug-out.

Caldwell takes over Exeter following the departure of Matt Taylor, who left to take charge of Rotherham United earlier this month, having steered the club to automatic promotion last season.

The Grecians are currently eighth in League One, three points off the play-off places.

Former Hibs assistant Gary Caldwell has been appointed manager of Exeter City. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The move will see Caldwell take up his fourth managerial role, having guided Wigan Athletic to the League One title in 2016 before less successful spells in charge of Chesterfield, where he suffered relegation, and Partick Thistle, who dismissed him while second bottom of the Scottish Championship.

He has also previously held the position of interim manager of Newcastle United's U23s team.

"As a supporter-owned club, Exeter City is unique and it was vitally important that we chose the right person to continue our journey," said Supporters' Trust chairman Nick Hawker and club president Julian Tagg in a joint statement.

"The club is in a strong position, having been promoted to League One and made a great start to the campaign, which sees us in eighth position in the table.

"Gary brings a great deal of experience to our club and we're excited and optimistic for the future."

"We would also like to put on record our thanks to interim manager Kevin Nicholson and Jon Hill for stepping in to manage the team over the last couple of weeks."