Wigan Athletic old-boy placed in temporary charge at League One rivals after sacking

The Gas opted to make the change after a third defeat on the spin at the weekend l;eft them one place and only two points above the relegation zone, ahead of Saturday's home game against third-placed Wrexham.

"Bristol Rovers FC can confirm that manager Matt Taylor and assistant manager Wayne Carlisle have been relieved of their first-team duties," read a brief club statement.

"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."

Bizarrely, Cattermole had only joined the Rovers coaching staff at the end of last week, with his remit specifically focusing on 'the development and implementation of set pieces'.

“I am delighted to join the coaching team at Bristol Rovers,” Cattermole said after joining. “Having spoken to the guys here and George Friend, I very quickly got excited about the project being developed here at the club. Everything I’ve heard about Bristol Rovers tells me it’s an exciting time to be part of things here, and I’m looking forward to getting going.”

The 36-year-old made 35 appearances, scoring two goals, during his 12-month stint with Latics under Steve Bruce in 2008-09, after joining from hometown club Middlesbrough for £3.5million.

He followed Bruce to Sunderland in the summer of 2009 for £6million, and mad more than 250 appearances for the Mackems before finishing his career in Holland with VVV Venlo.

Cattermole could well be in charge for next month’s trip to Wigan, with Rovers due at the Brick Community Stadium on Saturday, January 25.

Latics will be looking for a repeat of their 4-0 victory at the Memorial Stadium back in September, when Joe Hugill (2), Thelo Aasgaard and Luke Chambers were on the scoresheet.