AT the beginning of the year, there was considerable optimism circling the Widnes Vikings.
With experienced head coach John Kear at the helm and with new signings such as Kyle Amor and Tom Gilmore to help the Cheshire club around the park, there was genuine feeling that Widnes could cause a few problems for the rest of the Championship.
However, Kear was given his marching orders last month following a run of defeats that left the Vikings well outside the play-offs.
That being said, the 68-year-old feels he should have been given more time to turn things around at the DCBL Stadium.
“I was very disappointed,” Kear admitted to League Express. “I think they’ve gone down a route which they’ve gone down in the past six seasons and it hasn’t helped which is the most disappointing thing.
“When you look at the names who have left midway through a season, Tim Sheens, Francis Cummins, Denis Betts and Simon Finnigan, it’s a policy they have pursued before without it really assisting the club.
“It’s just a bit disappointing. I do feel as if I wasn’t given enough time but the decisions are made by others.”
Kear points to the loss in form as the catalyst for his sacking as head coach, but remains adamant that he would have turned things around.
“We lost form, it’s as simple as that but I was always really confident that once we got a good performance under our belt and the results began to mirror the performance that we would go on a trot.
“If you go on a trot all of a sudden you are back in play-off contention and I was always confident that would happen and it looks like it is happening now.
“It was results-based. As I say, it’s a policy they’ve used before and it’s a policy that hasn’t been successful before. They are pursuing it again and good luck to them.”
For Kear, what does the immediate future look like?
“I don’t really know. At the minute, it’s like anything else, when you’ve been disappointed by something it’s nice to spend some time away from it.
“I’m still enjoying the punditry and commentary side of things but it’s nice just to watch it on TV and know that it isn’t going to affect my family or myself.”
