He inherited a side coming fifth, I would think that making it to the second week of the finals would be a minimum expectation. Griffin was not sacked without having already spoken with Cleary. Gus likely knew that as soon as Ivan made his want to coach at Penrith clear with the Wests hierarchy that his position was more or less untenable at Concord.
I'm not a mental who thinks we'll get players out of Penrith, as if Gus will trade a player for a coach and as if players will willingly leave Penrith for the Tigers when the Panthers are well ahead of us, but I do think that they will not risk a premiership window waiting for Ivan to get there. Ciraldo might be a coach of the future, but he's not a proven coach now and Gus won't burn two years waiting for Ivan.