Paul March believes Cougars must make a swift appointment as his successor if the club are to avoid falling further behind with their plans for next season.

March took charge of Keighley for the final time during Sunday’s 50-8 home win over York City Knights, bringing to an end his turbulent four-year reign.

March’s contract was not renewed after he failed to guide Cougars into the play-offs and he will now pursue opportunities elsewhere as he seeks a return to coaching.

With Paul White, Ash Lindsay and Paul Handforth all retiring, forward John Oakes taking a year out of the game and a raft of players jumping ship, March says uncertainty over who will lead the club must be swiftly ended .

March, who is continuing in his day-job as Foundation Manager at Cougars, said: “As a coach, you are always wanting the best for the players and looking after their needs.

“You're also trying to look after the club's needs at times but the players feel as if they have been let down this year by the board.

“Now they need to know what's going on. I could probably name four or five players from the current squad who have signed for other clubs.

“With three players retiring, and John Oakes taking a year out of the game to spend more time with his young family, you are looking at nine or 10 players out of this current squad who are definitely not going to be there.

“I'm hoping the club will make a decision in the next week or so and appoint a coach so the players can get sorted.

“I don't know who has applied for it and who hasn't.

“The supporters are obviously hoping for a big-name coach to come in, but I'm sorry to say that I cannot see that happening with the budgets in place.

“Moving forward, they just need to name a coach so they can start retaining players for next year.

“Until then, no players are going to be signed without knowing who the coach is going to be.”

March had been in position at Keighley since succeeding Jason Demetriou at the end of the 2012 campaign.

It has been a traumatic reign for the former York City Knights and Hunslet Hawks coach, whose side were cruelly relegated from the Championship during the 2014 campaign amid the controversial dual-reg saga.

Last term, Cougars were hit by the death of hugely popular playmaker Danny Jones, who passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest during a game at London Skolars last May.

Despite that tragedy, March rallied his troops and Cougars went agonisingly close to winning promotion from League One, only to suffer a 29-28 defeat to Swinton in the promotion final at Widnes last October.

March, who enjoyed a distinguished playing career which ended at Cougars, guided Keighley to victory over York in the iPro Sport Cup final at Blackpool in May.

March said: “The first year I took charge, we were safe with games to spare.

“In the second year, we put ourselves in a great position to achieve Championship status.

“Going into that Featherstone game, we were winning in the last 10 minutes.

“But cruel things happen in sport and we got relegated.

“There were a lot of talk at the time, but we imploded ourselves. That was a low.

“Then, when Jonesy passed, it was a massive low for everybody.

“I believe if he had still been with us last year, we would certainly have gone on to win promotion because he had such a big influence on the field.

“He left a big hole to fill but this season we reached the iPro Sport Cup final and won the club's first piece of silverware for years.

“But I said to the players that with highs always come lows.

“We have seen that this season because not making the play-offs was a massive low.

“With the squad we had, we should have made the play-offs and it has cost me my job.”

March is keeping an eye on potential coaching jobs elsewhere, adding: “I'd like to think I'd be in the mix for jobs that come up, but there will be other people thinking the same.

“It depends on what clubs want from a coach.

“Yes, I've had some good times from all the clubs I've been at, but I've had some lows as well.

“The amount of work and commitment means I don't do anything by halves.

“It's Keighley Cougars' loss and hopefully somebody else's gain.

“During the past five years, all my time and effort has been given to Keighley Cougars.

“I thank Gary Fawcett and his board of directors for that.

“We've had some highs and we've had some lows, not least the tragedy of Danny Jones passing.

“The way we dealt with that together will give us memories for the rest of our lives.

“But moving forward, it's about trying to hopefully find another coaching role and giving that the same commitment and passion I have shown while I have been at Keighley.”