PHIL Gould says he was concerned about the welfare of his Dally M coach-of-the-year coach Ivan Cleary midway through the season.
He thought he was struggling under the stress of a massive injury toll, losing games and the drawn out negotiations of his assistant coach Trent Barrett to join Manly.
“In the middle of the season I was a bit worried about him,” Gould told The Daily Telegraph on Monday night, “We spoke and I thought he needed a break.
“But Ivan said he was motivated to keep going. He wanted to keep going but we knew things had to improve. We’ve been talking about it for a few months. I just got a gut feel it was the right time.”
The Panthers general manager revealed he conducted his own end-of-season review before coming to the conclusion Cleary had to go.
The Panthers are expected to name former Broncos coach Anthony Griffin as Cleary’s replacement in the next 48 hours once they have reached an agreement on a salary.
“I’ve just finished a review and felt we need to make a change,” Gould said, “There’s no hiding from the fact that he was terminated.
“His contract was up next year anyway and I didn’t want to go through all the business next year of will he or won’t he stay. “It was in our best interests to do it now.
“Ivan was obviously very disappointed but he said he had a feeling this was going to happen.”
Rumours also emerged on Monday night that Cleary had lost the support of a number of key players.
The Panthers have a number of their most outstanding prospects coming off contract next year and the club was anxious to make the coaching move before entering negotiations with the players.
The fact he didn’t act on a number of cases of player ill-discipline was also a reason why Gould acted.
After a highly successful 2014, the Panthers crashed out of contention this year and narrowly avoided finishing with the wooden spoon.
Cleary’s former club, the New Zealand Warriors, on Monday night distanced themselves from re-signing the coach.
Andrew McFadden is under pressure to make an impact with the Warriors, who failed to make the finals this season.
The club has gone on a big signing spree for 2016, snapping up Sydney Roosters fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and South Sydney hooker Issac Luke to form an all-Kiwi spine to complement halfback Shaun Johnson.
“If you are calling re Ivan as you know we already have our coaching staff for next year so Ivan is not heading back to Mt Smart, cheers,” Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle said.
Gus Gould reveals why Panthers coach Ivan Cleary sacked, Anthony Griffin new coach