Bleiberg was suspended overnight by Gold Coast after his public comments about how the captaincy role will be handled this week.

Club owner and billionaire Clive Palmer is said to have been angered by the coach's remarks yesterday about 17 year old Mitch Cooper being handed the captaincy of the club this weekend.

Bleiberg said the idea was Palmer's, but then stressed Cooper would simply be wearing the armband and calling the coin toss as skipper.

"He will toss the coin," said Bleiberg yesterday. "Then he will ask Kristian Rees which way to go, and then Kristian will tell him what to do (in the game).

"He will do the ceremony, it will take one minute and then the game is normal."

He added: "Our owner likes to think a bit outside of the box and I think he's come up with a great idea which I endorse.”

Last night Bleiberg was informed of the decision and the club refused to say how he took the news.

However the mood within the Gold Coast squad appears to be backing their coach.

Bleiberg was told he wasn’t required for training and for the trip to Melbourne for the Heart game this weekend.

FFA today said they were powerless to get involved in the row, confirming all coaching and player appointments are at the “club’s discretion” and ruled out sanctions against United.

An FFA statement added: “Gold Coast have appointed Mike Mulvey as stand-in coach for the match against Melbourne Heart this weekend.

“Mike meets the requirements as an A-Licence holder and has completed the first part of his Pro-Diploma.”

A-League chief Lyall Gorman added:  "The coaching appointments and player roster for a team is at the club's ultimate discretion within the guidelines set down by FFA.

"The appointment of a stand-in captain due to the suspension of club captain Michael Thwaite is again at the club's discretion.

"We look forward to seeing two clubs play, on Friday night at AAMI Park, that both put an emphasis on the development of their young players."

Club CEO Clive Mensink told au.fourfourtwo.com that the club planned to meet with Bleiberg this afternoon for crisis talks.

“The club made the decision after some of the comments made yesterday which we thought devalued the appointment of Mitch and the captain’s position," he said.“The club suspended Miron until further notice."

Asked what further notice meant, and Mensink wasn’t able to put a specific time period on it.

He added: “The club and Miron will be having talks. The facts are: Miron is suspended until further notice.

“We haven’t put any time limits on it. It’s a matter of Miron and the club agreeing to move forward. We’ve done this because we believe in the young man [Cooper].

“The club will make a statement at a time when we deem appropriate, whether it’s this afternoon or the next day.”

This afternoon the club revealed owner Clive Palmer had ordered the ban to be lifted next Wednesday, in time for the top v bottom clash against league leaders Central Coast Mariners.

A statement from Palmer backed Cooper's appointment, insisting it was on merit - and predicting he would one day go on to be captain of the Socceroos.

Palmer added: "So far, Mitch Cooper has had an outstanding football career having represented Australia in the 2011 FIFA U17 World Cup in Mexico where he was named as players’ player of the match against Brazil.”

Meanwhile Mensink also blasted speculation that the club was soon to exit the A-League in the wake of this latest shock.

The club that has struggled to gain a foothold on the Coast, despite making the finals in their first two seasons.

“As I sit here we are [having a future]. I don’t know why we keep on getting this?" he shot back.

"Just because we do things a bit different, and I don’t think we’ll be the only club doing things this way in the future.

“It’s just the way we operate.”

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