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A third player has changed his mind about linking with A-League newcomers the North Queensland Fury. The club offered a release to Brazilian playmaker Felipe on Monday after losing patience with the Brazilian.
He failed to arrive in Townsville to take up a two-year deal and is understood to have accepted a lucrative offer from a club in Saudi Arabia.
Felipe joins Adelaide United’s Cassio and Socceroos defender Jade North as the big-name deals to have fallen through for the unlucky Fury.
“This gives us the chance to look for another midfielder and we already have a couple of very, very good options,” chairman Don Matheson told AAP.
The Fury boss was also not reading too much into their weekend 4-0 trial loss to Brisbane Roar at Mackay.
Matheson said only “half” of their squad was available for the pre-season clash against a strong Roar outfit.
“The score doesn’t reflect where we are heading,” he said.
“When we do get our squad together we will be very good side.
“We are certainly not panicking.
“We came up against a red hot Roar side which told us where the team is and where we need to go – we’ve got a plan and we are sticking to it.”
Matheson hoped the Roar believed they now had the wood on the Fury following the big loss.
“That would be great if they think they are just going to beat us next time we meet.”
Matheson said “five or six” top graders would be welcomed back for their June 23 pre-season clash against Gold Coast United at Skilled Park.
“But we certainly won’t be totally ready by then,” he said.
“The coaching staff has used this as an opportunity to see what local talent is around.”
After the 4-0 loss, Fury coach Ian Ferguson released seven of their eight triallists, retaining only Fijian Roy Krishna.
“He runs like the wind. I don’t know many who would run faster than him,” Matheson said of Krishna.
“He’s four or five yards quicker than 99 per cent of the people in the A-League, that’s valuable.
“One on one if you get caught out wide with him he’s going to embarrass a few people.
“He has to work on a few things, but we will make a decision pretty quickly.”
Marquee signing Robbie Fowler is expected to be kept in cotton wool until late next month as he overcomes a groin problem.
The English star is expected to be fit for North Queensland’s A-League opener against Sydney FC at Townsville on August 8.
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