Buckle takes over from Preki at Sacramento Republic

The 44-year-old, who was in charge at Kenilworth Road between April 2012 to February 2013, had a disappointing spell as Cheltenham Town manager recently, sacked after just 79 days in charge.

His new team are the current champions of the United Soccer League, the sport’s third tier in America and are midway through their 2015 season, with coach Predrag Radosavljevic, known universally as Preki, the former Everton and Portsmouth midfielder, leaving this week.

Sacramento’s technical director Graham Smith told the club’s website: “Paul is a coach who has excelled in challenging situations and has led squads above and beyond their potential.

“In addition to his leadership of the first team, Paul’s commitment to develop talent and support the development of future players is one of the many reasons we believe he is the right fit for Sacramento.

“We’ve known Paul for over 12 months and he has had the opportunity to spend some time with Preki, watch some of the training sessions and games.

“We have great confidence in Paul. We wanted someone to carry on what Preki has been doing, albeit in a different way. He’s going to be great for the players.”

Preki agreed, adding: “We are going to get a coach that we feel that is going to be a good it. I think the team is going to be in a good place.”

Buckle takes over a team who are joint-leaders of the United Soccer League Western Conference.

His first game in charge of Sacramento will be a friendly against Premier League side Sunderland in California next Tuesday.