Cragg optimistic Titans can survive the drop
NEWS EXTRA
WINLESS Rotherham Titans still believe it is possible to avoid relegation after sacking coach Andy Key.
Titans parted ways with Key following last week's defeat to Doncaster that left them 19 points adrift at the foot of the table.
Forwards coach Nic Rouse has taken charge of team affairs until the end of the season and chairman Nick Cragg remains defiant over the club's future.
Cragg said: “We know it's a tough ask, but we have nine league games left, so it's do-able.
“We need to be positive and our performances have to be significantly better – if we are relegated and go into National One, we intend to be playing there for one season only.
“We aim to come back straight away and we will put together a budget to allow us to do that.” The decision to sack Key, while it was taken in November, was made public only after the south Yorkshire derby which Doncaster won 36-19 at Clifton Lane, Rotherham's twelfth successive league defeat.
Cragg added: “It was a very difficult decision to take, but a change was necessary.
Andy is one of the nicest guys we've ever had at Rotherham. He's a smashing kid but rugby is about results.
“Nic will have until the end of the season to put things right and then we will review his position. We have considered the size of the budget Rotherham will need if we drop into National One, and the directors will make sure we have the money to compete.”
Key was Rotherham's third coach in as many years. Like his predecessors, Welshmen Mark Jones and Justin Burnell, he was sacked without completing a full season.
Key was Rotherham's eleventh coach in 14 seasons, suggesting that the south Yorkshire club, a Championship member since 2004, need long term stability.
Ahead of yesterday's game against Hartpury, Titans had the worst record in both attack and defence in the Championship.
