Former Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa star goalkeeper Mark Bosnich will no longer help coach A-League club North Queensland Fury on Wednesday night. The ex-Australian international agreed to help out the Townsville club who will be without head coach Franz Straka and assistant Stuart McLaren for their Week 11 clash with Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium tomorrow but his current contract with Fox Sports says he can't take the role.
The Fury were to install football operations manager Robbie Middleby and Bosnich as their matchday coaches after Straka and McLaren were suspended for an incident involving match officials from their October 2 loss to Central Coast Mariners.
But Football Federation Australia has placed strict guidelines on what Bosnich can and cannot do and he will now only assist the team in the lead-up to the match and will not actually be there on matchday.
Fury chief Rabieh Krayem said it was disappointing but made it clear that the club had respected FFA's stance on the matter.
"Mark is one of Australia's best ever footballers and when we approached him to help the club out this week, it was as a trainer in a mentoring capacity," Krayem said.
"To have someone with his playing resume around the squad at training on Tuesday and on the bench during Wednesday's match would have been an invaluable learning experience for this young Fury squad, whilst providing assistance to Robbie Middleby who will be running the football operations from the bench.
"Mark will still help the team (on Tuesday) and in the lead-up to the match, but, because of these guidelines, the club has decided it would not be able to utilise his skills pitch-side during the match.
"With less than 48 hours until kick-off, this is naturally disappointing for all concerned but we will respect the guidelines as outlined by the FFA."