While it was a hugely disappointing weekend on the pitch there was good news off it for Castleford Tigers with owner Martin Jepson reiterating his commitment to making the club a force again.
Jepson confirmed that he has taken up an option to buy the shares of Ian and Janet Fulton to complete his takeover as majority shareholder at the Super League club.
It has been a long drawn out process since he first announced his intention to step up his bid to become the owner, but the successful businessman is now getting down to the task of improving the Tigers’ fortunes.
He has a job on his hands judging by the inconsistency of the team that surfaced again as they followed two encouraging displays with a performance in the Magic Weekend defeat to Wakefield Trinity described as “rubbish” by head coach Danny McGuire.
But Jepson can see a bright future for Cas and is expecting to bring other people onto the board to provide further financial input.
He said: “I am delighted to now be the majority shareholder of my boyhood club.
“I have been a Castleford fan all my life and I know what the club means to so many families in the area.
“I have taken my time to exercise my option to firstly understand the financial position and the day to day management of the club and secondly to give me time to talk to other like minded people interested in joining me on this journey.
“I hope to be making further announcements regarding the board of the club in the near future.
“I am totally committed to seeing a stronger Castleford competing in the Super League and the club being sustainable for many generations to come.
“This is an exciting time to be associated with Castleford whether you are a fan, a sponsor or a business partner and I look forward to you joining me at Wheldon Road to cheer on Danny and the boys.”
McGuire, meanwhile, still believes he is the man to take the team forward despite being frustrated by their latest performance.
He said: “I thought we were turning a corner and thought we were in a good position, but again consistency is an issue. We can play well for a week then look like a totally different team.
“I was really positive last week with the players and the preparation was good, we did everything we could have done – we have just not done it when it matters.
“It’s frustrating. We’ve got a week off this week, but we’ll be working hard, that’s all we can do. We have to work on some things we haven’t quite got right, probably physically really.
“I will tell them what I feel and we’ve got to try to get better.
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