Description of problem:

For MCE 2.9, the latest supported version is 4.19, but it automatically selects 4.20 as the default release image when no release image is specified.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

   4.21.0 

How reproducible:

100%

Steps to Reproduce:

     1. Install MCE 2.9 and create a hosted cluster without --release-image to use the default release image.    
     2. The hosted cluster release image is

image: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:4.20.0-rc.3-multi     

     3. For MCE 2.9, the latest supported version of HO is OCP 4.19, so the default payload image should be 4.19.x

Actual results:

    "I am running MCE 2.9 which supports 4.19 as a latest.. but it automatically picks 4.20"

Expected results:

    MCE 2.9 should select 4.19.x as the default release image for the hosted cluster

Additional info:

slack: https://redhat-external.slack.com/archives/C01C8502FMM/p1761732169231269?thread_ts=1741706109.037549&cid=C01C8502FMM