In what is becoming an unfortunate off-season tradition for the A-League, Brisbane Roar are experiencing off-field drama and the crisis has deepened.
The Roar have confirmed that after a meeting with stakeholders in the Bakrie Group on Wednesday, managing director Daniel Cobb was removed from his position.
Cobb’s position at the Roar was cause for some unrest within the club, and he announced prior to his departure that he was planning to make one last offer to buy the club from the current Indonesian owners. Based on the latest reports, that offer will be rejected.
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This week’s drama caps a tumultuous time for the Roar as Cobb never quite meshed with the organisation, having reportedly fallen out with the coaching staff last month. The final straw for Cobb came when the club missed a deadline to pay players and staff, claiming they had not fully delivered on a cash injection promised to him when he was hired.
According to the minutes of a Roar director’s meeting on Tuesday night, released to Monteverde, Cobb was removed from his post and East Coast Car Rentals chief executive Mark Kingsman was installed as his successor.
It does not end the dramas surrounding the Roar as the ownership situation continues to linger with conflicting rumours surrounding whether or not the Bakries want to keep hold of the club. Constant rumours of local business owners wanting to get involved with revitalising Queensland’s lone A-League representative suggest there is interest but nobody has been willing to meet the Bakries allegedly steep asking price.
The Bakries initially bought a stake in the club following the 2011 grand final triumph before fully taking over in 2012. They replaced the owners of the Coffee Club who handed the license back following significant financial losses over their six seasons of ownership.
An ultimatum was delivered last year to the Bakries to either stabilise the Roar or lose their club and it appeared as though the dramas had somewhat subsided until this week.
Cobb occupied the managing director position at the Roar for two months.
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