The club has had a clearout of players and coaching staff in a bid to cut costs since going into financial meltdown at the end of the season.

Some of their best players have been cherry-picked by rivals after the FFA decided to rip up all contracts and re-negotiate them to save money.

Just eight players are currently on the club's playing roster for next season after sweeping cuts to the squad.

Former A-League supremo Archie Fraser and newly-appointed Fury team manager Robbie Middleby have been going through the contracts of all Fury's players in a bid to get the best value for money.

Decisions are said to be being made on a balance of talent versus cost - but the cuts have already seen fullback Shane Stefanutto leave Fury to join Brisbane Roar for next season.

The highly-prized leftback was the sixth highest paid player in the A-League but spent much of the season on the bench after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in round 9.

"He was the sixth highest paid player, but was he the sixth best player in the A-League?" asked one FFA official. "The club needs to make cuts."

Marquee star Robbie Fowler is in negotiations with Perth Glory while Sydney FC are also keen on the Liverpool legend, although Fury may still bid to retain the star on a reduced salary.

As well as Fowler and Stefanutto, Fury have also lost the highly-rated Rostyn Griffiths to Central Coast Mariners and Jeremy Brockie is on his way to Newcastle Jets.

Rising star Michael Marrone's transfer from Adelaide United to Fury could be in question and Matt Smith has left for Roar.

Sydney FC were said to be interested in Fury flyer Dave Williams but he is one of the few to have so far publicly pledged his future to the club and Townsville.

Among those left who could be retained by the club are Jacob Timpano, Ufuk Talay, Paul Henderson, Beau Busch, James Robinson and Jimmy Downey, as well as Jason Spagnuolo, Jack Hingert and Dyron Daal.

As part of the new regime at Fury, former coach Ian Ferguson was released to take an assistant's position at Perth Glory alongside Dave Mitchell and is said to be considering legal action against the club.

Despite a season of turmoil, injuries and predictions of the wooden spoon, Fury and Ferguson achieved a very respectable seventh place, just missing out on the finals, and finished above established state rivals Brisbane Roar.

Fury are now looking to recruit a coach as quickly as possible to allow the new boss to assemble his own squad for next season.

The club today put together a panel of experts to handpick Fury's new boss, headed by Fraser and FFA's National Technical Director Han Berger as they search for Ferguson's replacement.

Candidates include former Roar coach Frank Farina and former Real Madrid and Red Star Belgrade player Milan Jankovic.

The panel hopes to reach the decision with the next two to three weeks.

The FFA today defended the decision to renegotiate all the contracts as part of the cost-cutting measures since taking over at the club following former owner Don Matheson's withdrawal.

The FFA have also previously stepped in at Adelaide United and Perth Glory but did not cancel all player contracts to renegotiate them.

But a spokesman said: "The league is only five years old and we are gaining more experience all the time.

"Not all the decisions we made are going to be right each time for different clubs. We are not necessarily going to do the same with each club.

"Archie is very comfortable with the players that have signed up for next season."