17 April 2024, 10:13 BST
Updated 1 hour ago
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Leam Richardson won just two of his 24 matches as Rotherham boss
Rotherham United have sacked head coach Leam Richardson, two weeks after their relegation to League One was confirmed.
The Millers have endured a torrid campaign and are 22 points adrift of safety with three games to play.
Richardson took over in December from the sacked Matt Taylor but won just two of his 24 games in charge.
“The search to appoint a new first-team manager is already under way, with further communication to follow in due course,” the club said in a statement.
Assistant Rob Kelly has also left the South Yorkshire club.
Rotherham are the sixth team in the Championship, alongside Huddersfield, Birmingham, Millwall, Plymouth and Sunderland, to have changed managers at least twice this season.
He took over with the club at the foot of the table, a position they remained in for the entirety of his tenure.
Relegation was confirmed with a 1-0 home defeat by Plymouth on 5 April and they lost their following two games at West Brom and Swansea.
Last season’s second-tier survival had ended a run of six seasons where the club were either promoted to or relegated from the Championship.
They host Birmingham City on Saturday in their penultimate home game of the season.
Millers destined for relegation before Richardson arrival – Analysis
BBC Radio Sheffield sport manager Rob Staton
Leam Richardson inherited a losing battle. It took the club a month to replace Matt Taylor and by the time Richardson accepted the job, the club already seemed destined to be relegated.
Issues with the training ground didn’t help and Richardson was increasingly vocal about the need for changes to the infrastructure at Rotherham. On the pitch they’ve struggled badly and they haven’t won a single away game since November 2022.
The problem for Rotherham is they’ve often been clinical in getting out of League One, before being swamped by the Championship beast. Without spending millions they don’t have, how do they take the next step? How do they compete against the big clubs in the second tier?
Whoever comes in will need to reshape the squad and they’ll be expected to create a competitive team in League One. That will be tougher than it has been in the past.
2024-04-17 12:05:30
#Leam #Richardson #Rotherham #United #sack #coach #Championship #relegation
