I think that it is time to end the vitriolic attacks on Paul March. Some of the personal comments made via this forum about about Paul March are both immature and, frankly, actionable.
Having supported this club for over fifty years, I have always considered this to be a family club and have been proud to stand alongside supporters, whom I have always considered reasonable and fair-minded. However, recent attacks upon our former coach has left a very bitter taste and, I believe, casts us in a very bad light to other clubs, supporters, players and coaches.
I do not disagree with the removal of Paul March as head coach as, for whatever reason, things haven't worked out as anyone would have liked. This is not to say that March did not try his best for the club, as I know that he is proud and fiercely competitive and our lack of success would have hurt him just as much as anyone. However, what we have to consider in all of this is that we are talking about sport and, as emotional as we can become, I believe that everyone involved should be accorded a basic level of respect. Paul March is a decent bloke with a nice family and he should not have to put up with the kind of comments that questions his suitability to coach children in schools, or indeed to be walking freely around Cougar Park. Nor should he be hounded out of his 'day job' to soothe a few bruised egos.
As far as I am aware, Paul March is well respected in local schools and I am sure will be able to encourage children to play to a good standard and inspire them to become rugby league players of the future. He may not have succeeded in achieving promotion and, like others on the terraces, I was not enthusiastic about his style of play, but we are fortunate that someone of his status in the game is promoting rugby league and the Cougars to local children and I am hopeful that it will continue.
I have also met Craig Lingard and he is a likeable and knowledgeable chap. Whether he is a "hero" or the perfect "role model" is a little early to tell, but I only hope that, whatever his level of success at Cougar Park, he is not made to fear the kind of cheap vitriol that haunted his predecessor.