It sounds like doing a full rewrite with the same team will just spend a lot of time to develop something just as crappy. This is unlikely to be a successful ro

It sounds like doing a full rewrite with the same team will just spend a lot of time to develop something just as crappy. This is unlikely to be a successful route. There are some things it should be easy to sell to both the team and to management. First, adding git into the mix. Tell them it's like backing up your work forever. You can roll most changes back to the beginning of the repo, easily. I say most changes because rolling back the code won't roll back changes to the database. Likewise, creating a preprod environment means you can make sure new stuff doesn't bring down the system before you roll it out. Yes, it will cost a bit more but having that extra assurance and the ability to do a little experiment is considered worth it by almost every other team on Earth. If you can get those two things in place, you can make it policy that nothing is done directly on production because the risk is too high. Then you can tackle refactoring code, a little at a time. Focus hard on training the team. If they are as junior as you say, they need to learn good habits before their ability to ever work as professionals is destroyed. Don't explain it to them that way. Smile and tell them you just want to help them develop their careers, which should be pretty close to the truth. Above all, keep your resume up to date and your ear to the ground. It sounds like you may burn out before all the work is complete. Have an exit strategy, just in case. Good luck!