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Perth Glory are set to offer marquee man Robbie Fowler an extension of his lucrative contract despite the A-League club bracing itself for a loss in the vicinity of $3 million this season.
Fowler, rumoured to be earning around $600,000 this campaign, has regained his magic touch in recent weeks, scoring a brace in Perth’s 4-2 win over Adelaide on Wednesday night to take his season tally to nine goals.
Last month, Fowler was linked to a coaching role at English second tier side MK Dons once his Glory contract expired.
But Fowler later denied anything had been locked in and Perth chief executive Paul Kelly said the 35-year-old was leaning towards staying on at Glory, despite the delayed start to next season.
“Robbie’s indicated he wants to stay,” Kelly said on Thursday.
“He’s got a few personal things he’s got to get through.
“He’s got to speak to his wife and kids for a start.
“He heads to Dubai for a few days to spend some time with his family.
“Let’s see what happens after that.
“Robbie loves this place, he enjoys the team, he enjoys the boys.
“Robbie’s been a pleasure this year, he’s been absolutely fantastic, we as a club would no doubt want him to stay.”
Perth have endured a disastrous campaign on the field and it hasn’t been much better off it, with owner Tony Sage set to be left with another sizeable bill by season’s end.
“We already lost three or four million dollars last season and we’ll possibly lose three million dollars this year,” Kelly revealed.
But despite another big financial loss, Sage has given his commitment to stay on next season.
“He’s a man that’s pretty true and loyal to his word and he’s proven that in the past,” Kelly said.
“He’s very passionate about the club, very passionate about the supporters and looking forward to next season.
“We are lucky enough we’ve got an owner in Tony Sage who I think has created hope for soccer in this State.”
At the request of Sage, current Kookaburras hockey coach Ric Charlesworth and former Fremantle Dockers chief executive David Hatt are conducting a review into the club that is expected to be completed by February.
“We know we are not doing things right. We’ve got to get to the bottom of it so we can prepare for next season,” Kelly said.
“At the start of the season we believed we had the best squad in the league … and something went wrong.
“He (Sage) is not going to lose all of his money all of the time, and that’s why we’ve got this review to have a look at these things and see if we can peg back costs.”
Under the reign of Glory coach Ian Ferguson, who took over from Dave Mitchell after round nine, Perth have posted just two wins, three draws and eight losses.
But Kelly said the former North Queensland coach had done enough to stay at the helm for next season.
Glory, who have played more games than most of their rivals, sit five points and goal difference adrift of the top six and are almost certain to miss the finals.
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