Castleford Tigers chairman reflects on shock decision to sack Craig Lingard

Castleford Tigers chairman Martin Jepson has opened up on his decision to part ways with former head coach Craig Lingard.

The former Batley Bulldogs head coach joined the club as an assistant in 2023 before being appointed to the head coach role for the 2024 season, his first such role in Super League.

He improved on last season’s results and built a terrific connection with the supporters that was certainly necessary for a fanbase that has had little to cheer about in recent seasons.

A purple patch mid-season, which saw wins over the likes of St Helens and Catalans Dragons, papered over the cracks of some poor results, even though there were a number of promising performances – but this wasn’t enough to keep him at the club.

In Martin Jepson’s first week as chairman of the club, he was removed from his role to be replaced by his former assistant, Danny McGuire.

Castleford Tigers chairman explains shock decision to sack Craig Lingard

Speaking to the COYFCast, a podcast run by Castleford fan Ross Williams, Jepson was asked about his, and the club’s, decision to swap Lingard for McGuire.

He responded: “These things are never easy. And it shouldn’t be a reflection on Craig. Craig did a very good job in difficult circumstances last year and there’s certainly there’s nothing personal in it.

“I’m a big believer that if you’re going to make change, you’ve got to get on with it and do it early. The longer that you take to make change, the less likely you are to do it.”

He continued: “I just felt that a change was appropriate for the club at that moment in time. Craig did a great job last year. We’ve all talked about this three-year plan, how that develops. For me, we needed to move in a slightly different direction this coming season.

“It’s a tough call, but I think, obviously I believe the long term it will be the right call for the club. I just felt it was better to do it.

“When you’ve got pre-season about to start, you don’t want to be chopping and changing halfway through pre-season. I wanted to have a clean slate, start afresh and get moving in what I think will be an exciting direction of the club going forward.”

You can listen to the full episode of the COYFCast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.