Phil Gould makes himself redundant at Penrith

Penrith executive GM Phil Gould has sensationally made himself redundant after losing a dramatic power struggle at the club.

Penrith general manager Phil Gould has made himself redundant

Penrith executive general manager Phil Gould has sensationally made himself redundant after losing a dramatic power struggle at the under-pressure club.

The Australian understands Gould’s shock request will be accepted at a Panthers board meeting starting at 11am today. It has left the Panthers in turmoil.

Well-placed sources at the club claimed Gould and new coach Ivan Cleary — whose side has won just two games this season — could not coexist. Gould formally told Penrith of his plans to walk away at 3pm yesterday.

Cleary, who was sacked by Gould in 2015, yesterday won the war against his old nemesis.

In an untenable situation, Cleary did not have to report to Gould, despite Gould’s lofty position as executive general manager of football.

Gould’s power at the club eroded significantly when he wanted Wayne Bennett as coach for this season but club chairman Dave O’Neill overruled him and appointed Cleary.

It was a clear sign Gould had lost his influence. There is little doubt some members of the board — at least privately — wanted Gould out.

Gould said he was thinking about “the future of the club” when he made the call to leave.

“It was my decision. I’m the one that’s recommended we do it straight away,” Gould told Nine News. “I spoke with (the board) this morning about maybe the end of the year or maybe in a couple months time, I just recommend we do it sooner rather than later.

“I’ve always maintained that this position was never going to be around forever. The club is in such a strong position at the moment. We’ve got the right board of directors, the right management and right coaching staff.”

Provocative, intelligent and yet polarising, Gould was a powerful figure at Penrith who found it difficult to step away from running and influencing the football department. He previously had full control over football decisions.

Gould is expected to formally leave Penrith today. Penrith’s board will today discuss possible candidates to replace Gould in an interim capacity. Directors will also talk about the club’s management and football operation structures.

“We have come to an agreement with Phil that his position has become redundant,” said Panthers group general manager, Brian Fletcher.

“Phil was adamant his position had become redundant and his time at Panthers was at an end.

“It was always his intention that his job would eventually become redundant. I didn’t think he would do it as early as this but he has decided to do it now.

“Gus feels it is time now that Ivan is here and settled. He is in discussions with myself at the moment about when that date for redundancy commences.

“Phil has been very good for the place and we want to make sure we thank Phil for that.”

O’Neill, Cleary and Fletcher are known to have worked closely together. Gould, 60, will seek a hefty payout on his $800,000-a-year contract.

Cleary had sought full autonomy over the football department but told club officials this couldn’t be achieved with Gould at the club.

Tensions had increased to the point where board members felt the matter had to be resolved immediately. Penrith’s spluttering start to the season only exacerbated the tension.

Gould recently made inquiries at Channel 9 about a full-time role at the network to cover potential loss of earnings if he was to quit his position at Penrith.

It appears Gould may struggle to find another NRL club in the short-term after Cronulla rejected any moves to sign him as the club’s new general manager of football.

Penrith was reluctant to admit Gould and Cleary had issues but one well-placed source near the club admitted: “It’s not a relationship where you would see them going to the races or church together. It was a difficult situation.

“The key question was whether Ivan needed Gus’s input anymore? Ivan is a mature coach. I wouldn’t like someone sitting across the desk from me telling me what to do if I was Ivan.”

Gould, employed by Penrith since 2011, met Fletcher and O’Neill yesterday morning to start informal talks about him quitting.

Others connected to the club are filthy Gould has essentially been forced out.

In his eight-year reign at Penrith, Gould attracted Oak as a long-term major sponsor and helped drive construction of the club’s $22 million Rugby League Academy.

However, he couldn’t secure the premiership he craved.

After winning the grand final in one of Australian rugby league’s great fairytales in 2003, the Panthers spent a decade in the wilderness and were considered an NRL basket case.

From 2005 to 2013 they made the finals just once. They collected the wooden spoon in 2007.

Gould transformed the vibrant league nursery into a consistent finals side.

The Daily Telegraph