Keighley Cougars chairman Gary Fawcett has confirmed that the club will replace Paul March if he fails to guide the club to promotion at the end of the season.
The Cougars were heavily backed to earn promotion back to the Championship at the beginning of the season, but since winning the i-Pro Sport Cup in May that has seen their form deteriorate and currently occupy sixth place in League One, three points outside the play-offs.
After narrowly missing out on promotion last year, March was given further money to invest into his side, however their recent form has made promotion an uphill task.
Speaking to Keighley News, Fawcett said: “Failure to achieve promotion will require us to appoint a new head coach, who we feel can do the job for 2017, and I have no doubt that there will be plenty of interest in the role.
“Applications will probably start to arrive at Cougar Park after this press release.
“If Paul March achieves promotion then we will sit down with him to ensure that we absolutely learn our lessons from this season’s campaign.
“It has been especially frustrating for the board this season because we substantially strengthened the squad from last year’s – when we came ever so close to being promoted – and felt our position as favourites was entirely justified.
“Clearly the team has misfired although we believe we have the firepower to beat any team in League One, including the much-lauded Toulouse, on our day.”
