Boss Matt Taylor sacked by Rotherham United

MATT Taylor was today sacked by Rotherham United as he paid the price for a poor start to the season that has left the club in the Championship drop zone.

The Millers acted after Saturday's 5-0 mauling at Watford which was a seventh defeat in eight away league matches since their campaign got under way in August.

The 41-year-old spent 13 months in the hot-seat after being lured away from League One Exeter City and kept Rotherham in the second tier last term.

A crippling injury list was hindering the Millers' attempt to build on that feat and Taylor had found no way to end their woes on the road.

The club now have the international break in which to make a new appointment before Leeds United come calling at AESSEAL New York Stadium a week on Friday.

Taylor signed a four-year contract and will receive a pay-off from Rotherham, although the amount will be nowhere as much as the full worth of his deal.

Many fans had been calling for him to go and he leaves the Millers in 22nd spot after 16 games, four points shy of safety.

The tame manner of the away losses forced Rotherham to act now rather than risk the gap growing to an insurmountable size

Rotherham operate on one of the smallest budgets in the Championship, but chairman Tony Stewart had backed Taylor in the transfer market and the club had spent at a new level in the last two windows.

Striker Jordan Hugill came in last January on a long-term deal offering substantial wages while the Millers smashed the £1-million barrier for the first time in the summer to make centre-forward Sam Nombe their record signing.

The boss becomes the first manager to be fired at New York since Alan Stubbs lost his job in October 2016.