Former Great Britain front-rower Garreth Carvell believes Hull FC fans should stand by struggling coach Lee Radford.
The 33-year-old, who was released by Radford earlier this week before joining Castleford Tigers, thinks his former team-mate has been “thrown in at the deep end” and needs time to find his feet.
The Black and Whites currently sit 12th in Super League, six points adrift of the play-offs, and fans have been pictured at the KC Stadium with banners calling for Radford to be axed.
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“Lee’s been thrown in at the deep end and not had the experience of most head coaches,” Carvell told the Hull Daily Mail.
“Some coaches stay as assistants for seven or eight years before making the step up. It’s a massive challenge for him but he’ll love that. He’s almost learning on the job and I suppose he’ll learn a lot from the experiences he’s had this year.
“Myself and Lee have been good friends for a long time and it will remain that way. My exit from Hull was nothing personal. There will have been times where he’s made a mistake and he won’t do the same in future.
“Next year, he’ll be starting a fresh with his own team and I’m sure he’ll learn a lot from this season. I hope he is given a chance.
“It’s a funny week to sign permanently at Cas, with us playing Hull tomorrow.
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“To be training with the FC guys for the majority of the season and be facing them in my first game as a permanent Cas player will be strange.
“I’m not going out there to prove a point against my former side, I’m fully focused on doing my job on the pitch.
“Some people can go about it the wrong way and it falls back to bite you, but I won’t be doing that.”
