I think that is exactly what Gould wanted and he's manipulated the situation for his own gain while screwing over the Tigpies.
Make the Tigpies believe that Cleary's position is untenable (just like Des at the end of 2011), they release him and low and behold, suddenly he's available to coach the Panthers from 2019.
Conclusion? Gould is a prick.
And like you, I don't get why everyone is so high on Cleary's coaching. The only thing he's done is take the Warriors to the 2011 GF.....7 years ago. Since then he actually got the sack from Penrith once already and overall he only has a 48% winning strike rate from 292 games as a first grade NRL coach. Hardly the record of someone who should be highly thought of.