Steve Evans: Rotherham United part company with manager as familiar face returns as caretaker

With the Scot's backroom staff also departing, former coach Matt Hamshaw has returned to take caretaker charge, along with goalkeeping coach Andy Warrington, until the end of the season.

The last straw was Saturday's 4-0 defeat at home to relegation-threatened Crawley Town.

Afterwards, Evans spoke about hoping to be given more time in the job, but on Sunday it was announced he had left the club, along with his assistant Paul Raynor, and coaches Gary Mills and Ian Pledger.

Hamshaw’s first game in charge will be at Northampton Town on Tuesday.

Hugely successful in his first spell in charge, when he took the club from League Two to the Championship, Evans returned in April, less than a fortnight after their relegation to the third tier was confirmed.

Previous manager Leam Richardson had spoken of the need for a long-term review and reset, but Evans’ was brought in as a quick-fix to bring instant promotion back to the Championship, something the Millers have become used to in their yo-yo existence.

The statement announcing Evans’ return spoke of it “giv(ing) us the best possible chance of bouncing back to the Championship at the first time of asking.”

But exactly 50 games brought more defeats – 21 – than wins (18) and Rotherham are 16th, nearer the relegation zone than the play-off places, not that there is much danger of a second successive demotion.

Handed a three-year contract, Evans oversaw 14 summer signings but the injuries which had blighted them in the Championship continued. Three further new faces were added in January.

Hamshaw left Rotherham in September 2022 to follow manager Paul Warne to Derby County but both lost their jobs in February. Warne is still out of work.

All three of Yorkshire’s League One clubs have sacked their managers in March, with Huddersfield Town removing Michael Duff, and Barnsley letting Darrell Clarke go. All will look to make full-time appointments in the summer.