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Phil Gould has to leave the Penrith Panthers, with his sacking of Ivan Cleary the last straw of frustrating decisions over the past four years for this Penrith fan.
When Gould first joined the club, I was pessimistic. I’ve never been a fan of Gus and seeing him join the Panthers and clearing out club favourites such as Luke Lewis, Trent Waterhouse, Michael Jennings, Lachlan Coote and Petero Civoniceva did not provide me with much hope for the future.
He decisions to move on so many local juniors was heart-breaking. Developing local juniors is something the Panthers are famous for; from Greg Alexander and Mark Geyer to Luke Lewis and Craig Gower.
As well, I was frustrated when Gould changed the logo of the Panthers. The members had no say in it, it was just Gus making the decisions.
But let’s get this straight; Phil Gould is a rugby league genius. He’s coached the Panthers and Bulldogs to premiership success as well as New South Wales to State of Origin glory. He built the Roosters team that was so successful at the turn of the century. He lives and breathes rugby league.
Yet despite this tactical knowledge, I think he’s lost his touch. Commentating for Channel Nine and being a General Manager for the Panthers shows Gould has a conflict of interests with the two. He is not fully committed to the Panthers as long as he’s a part of Channel Nine.
Gould needs to quit commentating and solely focus on his job at the Panthers, otherwise Penrith will not fulfil their true potential. His heart is not fully at the Panthers, unlike Cleary who’s given four years of hard work and has been unfairly sacked.
A lot of has been said about Gould’s five year plan. It’s good Gould has ambitions for the club.
But what kind of person treats a coach like that; by saying in five years they’ll win a premiership and then sack the coach after four years?
Gould claims he was worried about Cleary saying he was under a lot of stress with the injury toll and poor performance on the field. Well excuse me for Cleary being the first coach to ever be under stress because things aren’t going his way. You can’t sack Ivan because he hasn’t performed, when he’s been missing he’s first choice spine for most of the season.
There was also talks about a falling out between Cleary and Gould after the Trent Barrett issue, as well as falling out with senior players over contracts.
It’s not up to Cleary to re-sign players, it’s up to the Penrith board.
Gould should immediately step down from his role as General Manager from the Panthers. He’s done enough for the club, but I believe he got it wrong when he put drastic expectations that the Panthers will win the premiership in five years. Putting the players and coach under that amount of pressure is unfair and it’s time for Gould to go.
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