Coolen's comments come after Dodd's manager Buddy Farah revealed to SBS on Thursday that the Reds coach has been looking to offload the speedster since the day he arrived, with Perth Glory expected to snap up the out-of-contract winger.

Farah also said 'the club has never negotiated in good faith' after only offering the captain a year-long contract and not two lucrative deals, which Dodd has supposedly turned down, as maintained by Coolen.

The player's camp is also suggesting the club are looking to portray Dodd as the villain in the saga while the bad guy is in fact Coolen.

The Dutchman denies such accusations and said he doesn't have to 'protect himself', labelling the whole farce as a 'waste of time'.

Coolen admitted he was surprised by the revelations stating captain and coach have a solid and honest working relationship.

"I don't think it's good to react to those kind of things, it's a waste of time I think," he said.

"Travis and I have a real good relationship. We know exactly how we work together so it's not an issue. Everybody knows what's in that article is not true.

"I was surprised to be honest and I don't have to protect myself. Everybody knows how it is and they are the words I want to use."

The published article also suggests Dodd has already signed with Perth and wouldn't line up against Central Coast Mariners on Saturday but Coolen rejected that notion.

While Coolen acknowledged the offer from the West is significant, he reiterated the Reds' offer is still on the table.

"I didn't read it that way," he said. "Everybody knows he has a good offer from there for a couple of years. He has an offer from us.

"He has to respect if he should take that decision and we should support him as well. Every player is free to make the decision.

"But we have good contact and we talk about that and that is more important. I don't read it that he has signed (with Perth) and he has already took the decision. It's up to him in the next couple of days or weeks."

Coolen also scoffed at suggestions by Farah that the skipper isn't a required player at United, saying Dodd was the first player the Reds attempted to re-sign at the start of the season.

The Dutchman admitted he will respect Dodd's decision and wouldn't stand in his way if he decided to join Perth.

"That's the last thing I want to say about it," he said.

"We know that we want to keep him here. He was the first player we spoke to about his contract. He's our captain so we really like him a lot and we know exactly what we can do and can't and the player does know that.

"Every player is free if he gets a bigger offer somewhere, if it's bigger or longer or whatever, he's free to take that decision and we have to respect that."