The relationship between Trent Barrett and Manly's administration appears to have reached breaking point, after the Sea Eagles coach was left seething over public criticism from owner Scott Penn.
As players backed their mentor on Wednesday, an emotional Barrett expressed disappointment over Penn's claims Barrett hadn't acted "in the spirit of the club".
Barrett also promised a statement of his own in coming days, seemingly frustrated over an agreement he indicated there'd been between he and the club not to comment on his reported resignation until season's end.
"I sat here last week and said I wasn't going to comment on things that are going on," Barrett said on Wednesday.
"I've had to front up to some pretty heavy press conferences over the past month about it and have declined to comment and tried to do things with a lot of dignity.
"I was a little bit disappointed with (the headlines) we woke up to today.
"I want to honour what I said that we wouldn't make public comment on it until the end of the season but in light of this morning we will make a statement in due course."
Barrett ultimately cut his press conference short after not wanting to take any more questions about the club's woes.
His long-held frustrations with Manly are believed to stem from a comparative lack of football department resources, with the club still searching for a recruitment manager and acting without a pathways coach or chief operating officer.
Penn insisted earlier this week he had fulfilled all promises made to Barrett when he re-signed last year, given room had been made in the budget for all requests.
The chairman then upped the ante in his latest interview, revealing they were now sounding out an experienced replacement, after their previous decision to back a rookie coach "hasn't worked".
"We are deeply unhappy at what has transpired," Penn told News Corp Australia.
"There have been decisions made out of our control that aren't in the spirit of the club.
"I think that (accepting Barrett back) would be difficult, really difficult."
Regardless, Barrett's future at Brookvale now appears untenable, despite having two years left on his deal.
That's likely to leave assistant John Cartwright and fellow ex-Gold Coast coach Neil Henry as the favourites to replace Barrett, with Geoff Toovey and Des Hasler seemingly unlikely.
That all came as Manly's players put in final preparations for their match against the Wests Tigers on Thursday night.
The Sea Eagles are only two points from last with two remaining rounds and are keen to avoid what would be the club's first wooden spoon.
Players are still backing Barrett, as star fullback Tom Trbojevic revealed senior players had thrown support behind him in a meeting with management this week.
"As far as I'm concerned Baz is coaching us next year, we haven't been told otherwise. We really love having Baz as a coach," Trbojevic said.
"I know myself and the others all really love having him as a coach, he's so good and approachable."
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