Phil Gould sacked Ivan Cleary as Panthers coach without telling board of administrators

PHIL Gould’s controversial sacking of Ivan Cleary has taken another twist after it was revealed he did so without informing the board of directors.

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary during Penrith rugby league training at Penrith Stadium, Sydney. Pic Brett Costello

PANTHERS general manager Phil Gould sacked coach Ivan Cleary without telling his board.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Gould decided to axe Cleary last week after a 30 minute meeting with club chairman Brian Fletcher and Panthers group chief executive Warren Wilson.

The remaining board members weren’t told before Gould dumped Cleary. Panthers director Greg Alexander admitted the decision was “a shock.”

Wilson said: “Gus (Gould) spoke to myself and the chairman and the chairman said, ‘do it now, I will inform the board’. The chairman made the call along with me and we didn’t have time to have a committee meeting.

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“The board knew there were issues re Ivan because it had been brought up before. They weren’t informed it (the sacking) was happening on that day.”

Asked was he fully supportive of the decision, Wilson said: “Yes, mate. There was a long list of reasoning and discussions that took place over a 20 to 30 minute meeting (between Wilson, Fletcher and Gould) and once that had been put on the table, I was very supportive of the decision.”

Alexander, the Panthers great, admitted he hadn’t been told but backed Gould’s decision.

“Gus is the general manager — he knows more than anyone else, he conducted the reviews after the season along with the relevant people, the coaching staff,” Alexander told The Daily Telegraph. “He is in a far better place than anyone else to make a decision. He deals with the coaches weekly. Gus is in there talking about players and what is happening on the weekend.

“But, in saying that, it did come as a shock because Ivan has been terrific out here since the day he arrived. He has done an enormous job to turn the place around. He has brought through some talented youngsters and developed their games to become regular first graders.

“If there is a club out there, and we know there will be, looking for a coach next year, Ivan would be the first on anyone’s list. He won’t be long without a job and I think he will be a head coach again before the end of 2016.”

Given Alexander’s strong praise, The Daily Telegraph asked why then was Cleary cut.

Phil Gould sacked Ivan Cleary as coach and replaced him with Anthony Griffin.

“’Gus’ decision wasn’t borne out from the fact he doesn’t think Ivan can coach,” Alexander said. “It was made based on Ivan not getting the best out of the playing group and Gus thinking he couldn’t get anymore out of this group of players. I honestly think the decision came because of how some our senior players went last year. The coach is always interlocked with the players. I’m not saying Ivan became too close to the players but I think Gus thought a new coach can get more out of the current group.”

Asked should Gould have told the board before making the decision, Alexander said: “Not really, not particularly. He told our chairman and discussed it with Warren Wilson. That’s the way it went. I’ve got no qualms with that.”

A few days, Gould explained why he dumped Cleary.

“I just felt it was the right time for him to take a step back, grab a breath of fresh air and get ready for the next part of his career. To be honest, I think we burned him out. It was my call, I made that call, I will stand by it and I’ll be accountable for it,” he said.

Originally published as Phil Gould sacked Ivan Cleary as Panthers coach without telling board of administrators