I am dumbfounded that the club has not address this coaching issue as every day it goes on it pushes the club back.. Even the players don't know whats happening and Brooks even said it would be hard to play under Ivan if he signed elsewhere.. JOKE.. How are you even asking for a top quality player to come here when they our current players don't even know the coach is staying..
Once again we work so hard to improve the image of the club and this rubbish happens (I know it Panthers fault and not our) and us fans are left to ponder again..
I suspect the club is trying to get it resolved as soon as possible. Not sure what else you want them to do really. If the plan as reported on here is true (ie offer Cleary an extension with a deadline to accept or leave) I think most of us would agree it's the best option available for a situation that's beyond the club's control. And if that is the case they have to give Cleary some reasonable amount of time to consider his options: you can't say "sign on the spot or walk" in the real world.
The person who is really weeing in the Tigers' soup is Ivan Cleary. He's doing all this at a critical time for recruitment, and in a way that risks setting the Tigers back by years just when they seem to have turned a corner (and not just on the field - apparently the club is about to report its first profit for god knows how long, and it's clearly a more professionally run organisation nowadays).
Obviously Gould and the Panthers are playing this in a pretty unethical manner but equally they don't owe the Tigers anything - so far as they're concerned they're making the move to get the coach they want when they think they can get him (putting aside that they sacked the same guy two years ago!).
As fans, I think all we can do to support the club is be as patient as we can. We're not locked in negotiations with a 25-year-old Jonathan Thurston; really if we're honest we're probably not going to miss out on the Player Who Makes All The Difference if we have to wait a couple of weeks for this to be resolved. Good players come up for signing all the time, and in fact it's probably better to wait for the right ones to become available than to rush to spend all the cap money just to show the fans you're in the market (*cough* Reynolds *cough*).
Personally I'm willing to assume that the club is trying to get this resolved ASAP and to hope that at the same time they're exploring options if - as seems most likely - Cleary isn't here next year.
You never know. Maybe we'll appoint the next super coach who none of us have even considered, Cleary will go back to the Panthers, lead them to a pair of dynamic injury-plagued ninth place finishes and get the sack by Gould at the end of the 2020 season. My money's on Ricky Stuart to replace him.