Coach Lee Radford has left Super League club Castleford Tigers by “mutual agreement” after starting the season with three successive defeats.
The 43-year-old was appointed in 2021 to succeed Daryl Powell and just missed out on the play-offs in his first season, finishing seventh.
Early season losses to Hull, St Helens and Wigan have led to his departure.
Radford’s exit means assistant Andy Last will take interim charge of Friday’s visit to Huddersfield Giants.
“With the club and myself heading in different directions, I think making this early call will be the correct one,” Radford said in a statement.
“Hopefully, it can kick-start their season, starting this Friday away at Huddersfield.”
Radford was brought to Castleford following his exploits at Hull FC, where he enjoyed success by winning back-to-back Challenge Cups in 2016 and 2017.
He had succeeded Powell, who took Cas from strugglers to contenders by reaching both a Grand Final and Challenge Cup final before heading to Warrington.
Injuries took their toll last season, with regular half-backs Jake Trueman and Danny Richardson ruled out for long spells, which upset the rhythm of the side, while some key senior players such as Grant Millington and Oliver Holmes either retired or left.
Recruitment this summer was made to try to change their fortunes, with Gareth Widdop and Jacob Miller brought in to bolster the halves and Albert Vete added to bring extra punch to the forwards.
Yet, preparations were hampered by the off-field issues surrounding Joe Westerman, which overshadowed the Tigers’ build-up for the new campaign.
On the field, a nightmarish opening 40 minutes against Hull FC left them 26-6 down and with too much of a deficit to overcome despite a spirited second-half fightback to eventually lose 32-30 on the opening weekend.
They were then beaten by a St Helens side who had returned from Australia that week following their World Club Challenge triumph and dropped a host of chances to score, before a second-half collapse against Wigan led to a 36-0 home loss, having been just 6-0 down at the break.
Analysis: ‘Radford news a bit of a surprise’
James Deighton, BBC Radio Leeds rugby league commentator
The news of Lee Radford’s departure has come as a bit of a surprise, bearing in mind the Tigers found themselves in exactly the same situation this time last year, with three straight defeats to start the 2022 season, Radford’s first in charge.
The difference this time will be the manner of the losses – remember Cas were 32-6 down at Hull in their season-opener three weeks ago prior to their second-half fightback.
There followed just a solitary try against a fatigued St Helens side, while Friday’s 36-0 whitewash by Wigan will have been particularly tough to take for all involved at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
In mitigation, it’s worth noting that the well-publicised off-field incident involving Joe Westerman will have provided an unwanted distraction just prior to the start of the season, and it remains to be seen whether interim head coach Andy Last will be able to spark the group up for Friday’s trip to Huddersfield as the club seek Radford’s replacement.
