Mining magnate Sage – who in recent seasons pumped millions of dollars into the under-performing franchise – has lashed out at disinterested fans in Perth.

And he has threatened to hand the licence back to the FFA. “No one is really interested in coming to Perth Glory games and the fans don’t want me to be in control.

“That was made very clear to me last night by a lot of people,” he said after Perth’s 2-1 home loss to Melbourne Heart last Saturday, the club’s sixth defeat of the campaign

Glory fan Colin Sharland from the club’s active supporter group and organiser of the Tour of Duty away trips, hit back, pointing to the head coach’s appointment as the main cause of the problems as the side spirals downwards once again despite a stellar squad of players.

“A lot of them [the fans] think he [Sage] has caused this problem himself due to his ineptness regarding the manager’s position,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

It’s a view shared by insiders who have consistently painted a picture of a club run by a generous owner who has hired many of the wrong people – chiefly the head coach.

“If he [Sage] wants to continually blame the fans instead of looking at himself they are okay with him going," he said.

“The FFA can’t allow a Perth team not to be in the competition so a solution would be found."

It’s a view echoed by a number of fans on one of the main fan websites (www.gloryboys.net).

“Since Sage took over, little has improved on the field,” wrote one fan.

Another opined: “Long live Glory..........it will survive with or without Sage. Give it back to the people who live, breathe and understand football and will be in the game till they die.

“Then we may finally get a home grown, decent footballing side with a top shelf coach who has track record and can develop young locals!!”

Glory play league leaders in-form Mariners this weekend in another very difficult assignment.

However Sage said the players were behind embattled coach. “They are all behind him 100 per cent. There’s not one dissenting voice. I know my locker room really well.”

* The FFA have insisted Sage will be staying on as Glory boss and claim the owner simply 'spoke out in exasperation after a disappointing loss'. However Perth Glory media department repeatedly published anonymous fan emails in support of Sage's decision to walk away on their official Facebook page yesterday.

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