THREE months on from his sacking, there is no hint of animosity as Craig Lingard reflects on his time at Castleford Tigers.
Lingard secured a swift return to coaching with Sheffield Eagles after quickly dusting himself down.
His Wheldon Road exit was greeted by widespread shock but the man himself had a feeling it was coming.
“I went in at 10 o’clock and by 10 past 10, I was out of a job and had accepted it pretty much straight away,” said Lingard.
“I’d had an inkling for a few weeks prior to it happening. It comes into the back of your mind and you sort of push it away thinking you’re being a bit stupid. After the event, you realise you saw some of the signs.
“It is what it is. I loved every minute I had at Cas and wouldn’t change any of it, except the ending.”

It would be an exaggeration to say Lingard had one hand tied behind his back but guiding the Tigers to an improved season with an inexperienced squad was no easy feat.
After throwing everything into the role, Lingard left with no regrets.
“Whenever you leave a job, you look back and wonder whether you could have done things differently,” said Lingard, who originally joined Castleford as an assistant in 2023.
“But you look at the metrics you were measured on and we overachieved on every single metric based on the players we had, our budget and the teams we were coming up against and their budgets.
“We spent £700,000 less, debuted 19 players and 70-odd per cent of our players had played fewer than 15 Super League games.
“If you bring that into the equation and finish higher in the table with more points, I think I could walk away with my head held high.
“Hopefully Castleford can progress further with some of the players they have brought in and achieve the three-year plan we put in place.
“It’s a fantastic club and the fans back you to the hilt if you’re on board with them.”
Lingard finds himself on familiar ground in the Championship on the eve of the new season.

The former Batley Bulldogs boss is following in the footsteps of Eagles legend Mark Aston, who is serving a suspension for breaching the Rugby Football League’s player welfare rules.
“I don’t want to say it’s been a difficult transition but it’s strange because of what happened at Sheffield last year and Mark being at the club as long as he has been,” said Lingard.
“The players have only ever worked under Mark so whether it was me or someone else, it’s like going in after Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson or (Pep) Guardiola at Man City – it’s not an easy task.
“Mark told me at the start that if there was anything I needed, he’d be at the end of the phone. He said he wouldn’t get involved – and he hasn’t done. He’s got his job behind the scenes and has left me to do what I need to do.”
Aston was handed a temporary role behind the scenes pending an appeal against his ban, which runs until April 2026.
The Challenge Cup hero will become the club’s director of rugby once the matter is resolved and the door was not shut on him returning as head coach in the future.
However, Lingard has been assured that he is the man to take the Eagles forward on the field.
“We want to build a little bit of a legacy,” he said. “They’ve given me a lot of confidence that I’ve got time to build what I want to build.
“I’ve got that ambition to get back into full-time rugby. Hopefully that can be with Sheffield.
“The long-term ambition for Sheffield is to get back to Super League. We know that’s not going to happen overnight and might be a three, four or five-year journey. If I can help Sheffield get there and get there with them, that’d be brilliant.
“I’m in a different position this year because the expectation and budget are considerably higher than what I’ve had before. That brings a different pressure.
“The minimum aim is the top six and we want to get back to Wembley in the 1895 Cup.”
Sheffield have been handed a home tie against Doncaster in the first round of that competition but the immediate objective is to get past West Bowling in the Challenge Cup.
Should the Eagles win Lingard’s first competitive game in charge on Sunday, they will host Wigan Warriors in round three.
“We’re not underestimating our opponents this weekend because that would be disrespectful and they’re a very good amateur team in their own right,” said Lingard.
“But it’s a real good carrot for us. If we do get through, the reruns of 1998 will be played. You always want to play against the best teams and Wigan are the best team out there right now.”