DANNY McGUIRE has left Castleford Tigers after just half a season as head coach.
Previously the club’s assistant and in his first head coach role, McGuire won only four of his 18 matches in charge.
Director of rugby Chris Chester, previously coach of Hull KR and Wakefield Trinity, has been placed in interim charge.
Castleford chairman Martin Jepson said last Thursday’s home defeat to fellow strugglers Huddersfield Giants was the final straw.
“It has been a challenging season, but in particular, the result and performance in last week’s game against Huddersfield were hugely disappointing for me and everybody involved with the club,” said Jepson.
“The board felt that a change of direction was therefore needed.
“I would like to put on record my thanks to Danny for his hard work at the club over the past two years, both as an assistant and head coach, and I wish him well in the future.”
It’s a second coaching change in the nine months since Jepson began the process of taking ownership of the Tigers.
McGuire stepped up to replace Craig Lingard at the end of last season after a tenth-placed finish.
His tenure got off to a bad start with defeat to Championship side Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup third round.
With only eight points on the board – half of them earned against beleaguered Salford Red Devils – McGuire leaves Castleford again in tenth.
Chester will now, at least on an interim basis, lead the team having only joined the Tigers in May.
He previously held the same director of rugby job with Leigh Leopards and is back coaching for the first time since leaving Wakefield late in the 2021 season.