As exclusively revealed by au.fourfourtwo.com on Tuesday, Phoenix accepted a late bid for Smeltz from Turkish Superlig side Haceteppe SK on Monday, just as Smeltz was picking up the top honours at the A-League Awards night.

But although Phoenix accepted the offer in theory, in practice the move could not have gone through without Gold Coast United and Smeltz's approval.

"Shane never really wavered in his desire to come here and has been caught in something not of his own making," Mensink told goldcoast.com.au.

"It's been unprofessional the way Phoenix have handled it. I don't why they didn't contact us when they received the approach for Shane last week.

"I don't know why they accepted the offer, I don't know why they didn't contact his agent (Leo Karis) either. "

Mensink said Tony Pignata was at the A-League Awards night on Monday, but never said anything to Gold Coast officials about his plans for Shane.

He added: "The opportunity for Shane to enjoy a great personal night was really taken away from him by the turn of events.

"Clubs need to show some accountability because we don't want to see this sort of thing happen again. It's not what the A-League needs."

Mensink insists there was never any danger of Smeltz heading off for the Turkish Superlig club

"He's told us he doesn't want to go to Turkey and we now just have to follow the red tape to the FFA and make sure all the documentation is there to confirm he remains with us," said Mensink.

"We have no reason to fear that is not the case and we're looking forward to him stepping out in our strip later this year."