Wrong. Penrith want him and he wants to be there. It was Ivan that requested to go there next year. It was Ivan that "sounded out" Pascoe for a release. The board at Penrith has changed from the time Ivan was sacked last time and Ivans very good mate is now the Chairman. For all the flak Gould has copped over this, for once he was/is telling the truth in that he has had no negotiations, in fact nothing to do with Ivan going back there. The only way IC will be here next season is if WT enforce his contract.
Absolutely Furious. Many are forgetting that Penrith sacked a coach who had them in 5th place with four weeks to run before the finals, you don't make that kind of move on a whim. You don't do that unless you have identified a successor.
I gave Cleary benefit of the doubt to begin with when this story broke as when he got here he made a few simple demands of the players, and was willing to let go some of the bigger names in our team in order to reinforce that no one is bigger than the team. That bought a lot of goodwill with fans and advertised that he looked to be in it for the long haul and appeared to have integrity.
Even with the statements from the CEO and head of the board, it is pretty clear that Ivan looks to want out. Go and Pascoe could well have lied to the members and fans when they said Ivan had not requested a release, but that is damage control and brand protection. A lot of businesses will lie or keep the truth a secret in order to maintain confidence with their clientele and employees.
I'd love nothing more to make the guy work his contract out with us and keep him from living his obsession of coaching his son out of mere spite but we have not played finals footy since 2011, It's time to worry about ourselves and move Cleary on in order to land a coach that can bring us back into winners circle. As for him, well I hope the experiment goes terribly it backfires on Ivan and Penrith.
Although I have suggested in previous posts that we are entitled to bring in a new coach and retain Cleary in some menial role, I actually agree with you 100%. It is time to move Cleary on and concentrate on getting the best possible coach (in my view that's Bennett) and a couple of quality NRL standard players.
But I would object to paying Cleary out. From day one it is Cleary who has wanted to leave and, if he had one shred of integrity, he would seek a release from his contract without expecting one cent from WT. Equally, I don't think it's realistic to expect compensation from Penrith but I guess it's possible. But sadly I think Cleary is now hanging on until he gets the boot from WT so he can play the victim and get a payout. In my view his "I intend to honour my contract" line has been carefully crafted from the start to ensure he was entitled to a payout. If I'm correct, what an absolute lowlife he is.
Agree on pretty much all points.
If Ivan had initially approached the club for a release, he should walk. I'm just a bush lawyer but I would guess that since the club has said they will not grant a release and Ivan has since said that he intends to honour his contract would see that if he was seeking a payout with his release that he would be entitled to it.
However, thinking out loud (and somewhat contradicting my comment about moving on quickly,) what is stopping WT from hiring Madge/Bennett as a coaching director, or head of football (pretty sure that's Kelly Egan's role but you get the idea,) and holding onto Cleary in the head coach role until Penrith are ready to pay for his release. Ivan wants to be there, Penrith need him there (I don't buy for a second that they want Ciraldo there as head coach in 2019,) and the longer we hold on, the more desperate Cleary and Penrith become.
