Penrith Panthers general manager Phil Gould will reportedly exit the club this week.
Reports suggest Gould, who took up his current role with the Panthers in 2011, is yet to resign from the position, however, it’s understood the news will be made official by the end of the week.
Channel Nine NRL reporter Danny Weidler, who talked to Panthers CEO Bryan Fletcher, first tweeted that Gould hadn’t quit the job, but then followed it up by saying a board meeting tomorrow would likely lead to Gus’s exit.
NRL.com have also reported Gould’s future will be discussed at a board meeting tomorrow, while it’s also been reported that Panthers staff were informed of the news on Tuesday.
Speculation suggests Gould met with the Fletcher and other members of the club on Tuesday to inform them of his decision to step down from his role as general manager, which has brought with it widespread criticism.
The Penrith supremo has been involved in the Ivan Cleary debacle, which first saw him sacked in 2015, then re-signed by the club in 2019 to coach son Nathan and the team.
The Panthers have had limited success during the reign of Gould, who promised big things when he first arrived in the now infamous five-year plan.
In his eight completed seasons, the club have had just four finals appearances, with just one trip to the preliminary finals.
Gould however, will be credited with the Panthers academy and a rapidly-increasing junior base of players, with the sport improving at grassroots level in the district since Gould’s arrival.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
what 5 year plan? Got a link to it?
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Do you know what the 5 year plan was? Or do you just listen to the News Ltd spin about him?
Insider
Roar Rookie
That’s a great idea, Gould will make sure he keeps them honest
Superspud
Roar Rookie
sorry that should read 250
Nick
Roar Guru
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
db
Guest
I think Max is suggesting the ensuing dumpster fire would be fun to watch.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
No What I meant is that if you haven't won one by the time you reach 150 you ain't gonna win one ever.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
"Gould was to bring a higher standard of professionalism to Panthers" Yet the Panthers pre-season scandals and Gould's own admission that there was a cultural problem at the club proved that in practice this was not the case.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
“Put Gus in charge of the NRL referees. Even just for a week. Please.” PLEASE, No! The Roosters already have enough of an advantage as it is! Last week Gould was calling a penalty against the Roosters for a high shot, “a nothing incident”. If “Puss Mould” had the whistle you might as well hand the Roosters the NRL trophy now! One of the reasons I no longer watch CH9 is because when Fittler and Gould are calling a Roosters game it sounds like “Roosters TV”. They don’t even pretend not to be biased.
Nick
Roar Guru
Why? What does he add to that? He makes things worse.
Nick
Roar Guru
You must be getting years back now that the drinking has been cut down.
Nick
Roar Guru
While I agree with the general point of the Fox article...let's take it with a pinch of salt. Fox have a HUGE axe to grind with Gould.
Nick
Roar Guru
Brian Smith coached nearly 500 games without a premiership actually, and I think about 330 of those are during the NRL era. Cleary has a long way to go.
RandyM
Guest
My understanding was Gould was to bring a higher standard of professionalism to Panthers and a similar kind of setup to what the Broncos and Storm have. From what I've heard he's achieved much of that as the Panthers have the best facilities of all Sydney clubs and better pathways for juniors than any other sydney club. I think people have misconstrued the 5 year plan to mean a premiership. His plan was for long term success on and off the field and to be competitive year in year out. Penrith won a premiership in 2003 and then went on to be a joke for the next 8-9 seasons. premierships aren't everything.
RandyM
Guest
He's divisive, there are just as many people who enjoy his commentary as those who don't. When he's not whinging about the refs I think he's a good analyst and commentator.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
Yeah that was last year's line. This year's is totally different. They spun it last year so it would be naive of me to think they aren't spinning it now.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
Yeah I think the record in the NRL is 250 games. Cleary up to 300 something.
Nick
Roar Guru
I wish I could find the article (it was in the guardian) that looked at coaches across the AFL and NRL and showed that statistically, that if a coach doesn’t win a premiership in their first seven years of coaching, then they are very, very unlikely to win one at all. There have been rare exceptions to that rule, but they are rare. It is incredible when you run the ruler through the past 25 years across both codes, how true that statement is. Mark Thompson and Damien Hardwick are the exceptions in the AFL. There are no cases of coaches in the NRL who won a premiership after their seventh season. For me, that alone was reason to not employ Cleary.
Max
Guest
Put Gus in charge of the NRL referees. Even just for a week. Please.
Nick
Roar Guru
I think Paul is right...Gould's Channel 9 podcast last year certainly made it sound like he was a key player in this decision.