Bristol Rovers have officially confirmed that they have sacked manager Matt Taylor after the Gas fell to 20th place in League One over the weekend, sitting just two points above the relegation zone after 19 matches.
Rovers have also confirmed that assistant manager Wayne Carlisle has left the football club with new coach Lee Catermole and David Horseman taking interim charge ahead of this weekend’s home game with Wrexham.
Rovers’ 2-0 defeat at Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon was their third consecutive loss in the league while they have scored just two goals in their last 660 minutes of football across all competitions.
Last month’s 1-0 victory away at Mansfield Town saw Luke McCormick score what has proven to be the final goal of the Taylor era and is their sole league win within the last seven.
In an official club statement, Rovers said: “Bristol Rovers FC can confirm that Manager Matt Taylor and Assistant Manager Wayne Carlisle have been relieved of their first team duties.
“The Club would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Matt and Wayne for all their hard work during their time with Bristol Rovers, and we wish them both every success in their respective future careers.
“David Horseman and Lee Cattermole will take interim responsibility for first-team football duties while the Club undertakes a thorough recruitment process for a new first-team manager.”
A severe struggle for attacking quality has led to a string of extremely underwhelming results and performances since the Gas recorded back-to-back victories over Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion at the start of October.
Prior to that run, Rovers had lost four consecutive league games following a bright opening quartet of fixtures of which they took seven points from 12 and kept three clean sheets.
Taylor’s job was understood to have been under severe pressure after a 2-1 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers at the end of September but that revival looked as though it would turn things around for the 42-year-old but the Gas’ drop in quality in recent weeks and subsequent falling down the table has proven alarming enough for the hierarchy to make the decision to relieve him of his duties.
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The news comes on the one-year anniversary of Taylor’s first league win as Rovers boss, a famous 2-1 victory away at Bolton Wanderers which suggested that the Gas would romp up the league table under the 42-year-old.
However, seven wins in their final 23 games saw Rovers finish 15th as inconsistency held Rovers back from any meaningful progress up the third tier standings following Joey Barton’s dismissal in the October.
This season has been a serious disappointment so far for the Gas on the back of a hectic summer transfer window that saw the club recruit a whopping 16 new signings which also saw them break their transfer record for striker Promise Omochere, paying Fleetwood Town a fee believed to be in excess of £500,000.
Despite notable investment, it hasn’t yet worked out for this largely new group of players this season with inconsistency once again proving to a major issue.
Taylor was forced to take a leave of absence a fortnight ago due to a family emergency, during which time Rovers scraped their way into the third round of the FA Cup with a penalty shootout success at Barnsley after a resolute goalless 120 minutes. They then produced their worst performance of the season three days later away at Leyton Orient, losing 3-0 while also failing to register a shot on target for a second consecutive league game.
It is currently unclear how quickly Rovers plan to appoint a permanent successor but they welcome promotion contenders Wrexham to the Mem on Saturday before ending the calendar year with trips to Exeter City on Boxing Day and Stevenage three days later. They then welcome Leyton Orient on New Year’s Day and visit Cambridge United on January 4.