Bleiberg quits as Gold Coast coach

The enigmatic Miron Bleiberg has quit his post as Gold Coast United coach citing that club chairman Clive Palmer took away his ‘dignity’ following what can only be described as an unbelievable last few days with the Hyundai A-League club.

Bleiberg was suspended by Palmer following saying the club chairman elevated 17-year-old Mitch Cooper to team captain, in what would have been his A-League debut was a ceremonial gesture.

“I’ll not be back,” Bleiberg told reporters on Sunday evening. “Clive can take my job but he took away my dignity. No one can take away my dignity.”

“If Clive wanted to hurt me, he succeeded. If he didn’t mean to hurt me, he made a mistake.”

“According to him, he made the right decision to suspend me. From my point of view, it wasn’t.”

“I respect his decision but there is no doubt in my mind that the punishment to suspend a coach for a thing like this after all we had gone through together didn’t fit the crime.”

This isn’t the first time the 57-year-old Bleiberg has left an A-League game following quitting the Brisbane Roar (then known as the Queensland Roar) back in November 2006.

“It hurt me because it was the first time but still it was more a political coup,” continued Bleiberg.

“When it happened with the Roar, the team was fourth on the ladder. This time … I left the club before the end and the team was at the bottom of the ladder, which hurts me.”

It is expected that assistant Mike Mulvey will take the reigns off the cellar dwellers when they host ladder leaders the Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday.

The Bleiberg decision come on the back of an extraordinary burst by club chairman Clive Palmer who in an outburst couldn’t guarantee the future of his ‘insignificant’ club and believes that rugby league is a much better sport than football.

“I don’t even like the game,” Palmer was quoted by Brisbane tabloid, The Sunday Mail as saying.

“I think it’s a hopeless game. Rugby league’s a much better game.”

Palmer continued his extraordinary outburst by labeling the competition a ‘joke’ and has dared Football Federation Australia (FFA) to strip him of his Gold Coast license.

“If we wanted to stay and they (FFA) wanted to take it off us, they’d all be in court, and (FFA chief executive) Ben Buckley would run a thousand miles,” Palmer continued.

“That’s the reality of it.”

“They can say what they like … the A-League’s a joke.”

Not surprisingly the FFA were quick to respond with CEO Ben Buckley saying that Palmer’s comments were ‘offensive’ and ‘out of order’.

The FFA released a statement on Sunday afternoon in which Buckley condemned the Gold Coast’s owner comments.

“Football fans across Australia will today rightfully condemn the lack of respect inherent in comments made by Clive Palmer,” Buckley said in an official FFA statement.

“The comments are offensive to the players, coaches, administrators and volunteers who are the life and soul of Australian football.”

“We welcomed Clive into the game and lauded his investment, but no matter how frustrated Clive may feel about his involvement, these comments are out of order.”

“I remind Clive that as a chairman and owner of a club, he has obligations to the competition, his fellow club chairman and investors in the other nine clubs, and to the game itself.”