Southend have announced the appointment of Sol Campbell as their new manager. The former England centre-back, who left his role as Macclesfield’s manager in the summer, has signed a contract until the end of the 2021-22 season at Roots Hall. Campbell takes over a team second from bottom of League One with just one win from 14 games and who were thrashed 7-1 at home by Doncaster on Tuesday night.

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Campbell kept Macclesfield in League Two against the odds in his first managerial role, having taken over last November, but he faces arguably an even tougher task at the Essex club.

Only Bolton Wanderers, who started the season with a 12-point deduction, are keeping Southend off the foot of the League One table, and they have taken only one point from their last five games.

Campbell will take over from caretaker Gary Waddock following Tuesday’s 7-1 humbling, which Southend ended with nine men after two red cards. His first match in charge will be at home to the league leaders Ipswich on Saturday.

He will be assisted by the former Iceland international Hermann Hreidarsson, while former Newcastle, Manchester United and England striker Andy Cole has been named as his forward coach. Hreidarsson and Cole, both former teammates of Campbell at Portsmouth, also worked under him at Macclesfield, who survived on the final day of last season. His new club said in a statement that Campbell was “determined to push on and make his mark at Southend United with the help of his backroom staff”.

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Southend have turned to Campbell after scrapping their plans to appoint former Celtic, Manchester United and Sweden striker Henrik Larsson. The club have been searching for a new permanent manager since the resignation of Kevin Bond in early September.

Before his appointment at Macclesfield, Campbell had spoken out repeatedly about the barriers for aspiring black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) coaches.