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.
