At today's press conference he was accused of being soft in his coaching style and Vidmar's latest glib response has landed him in hot water.

"What would you like me to do?," he said. "Chop their heads off. I can do that. We can go to Saudi Arabia and we can do that..."

This afternoon the club went into damage control in a bid to defuse a diplomatic incident that could potentially jeopardise Australia's bid to host the World Cup which will require the support of the Asian Football Confederation.

"This morning I was asked a question about my coaching style and I rather flippantly responded to the journalist," Vidmar said in an official apology statement this evening.

"My answer was meant to be irreverent but I realise now that those comments could be misconstrued to be a genuine view.

"I apologise, and regret my comments. I understand the impact my words might have, and I apologise to anyone who has been offended.

"I did mention something about Saudi Arabia. It was not meant to be offensive, it was just something I said off the cuff, which is no excuse.

"I have been to and played in Saudi Arabia, it is a great country and I enjoyed the time I was there, and I certainly was not trying to disrespect them in any shape or form."

Vidmar has previously courted controversy when he branded Adelaide a "pissant town".