Brisbane Roar are at rock bottom and the club’s owners aren’t budging — so where now for the former pride of the A-League?

IF Brisbane Roar needed to hit rock bottom to realise the mess they are in, it has happened and Queensland’s A-League club is teetering on the edge, writes MARCO MONTEVERDE.

Roar defender Luke DeVere feels the pain. (AAP Image/Albert Perez)

IF Brisbane Roar needed to hit rock bottom to realise the mess they are in, it has happened.

Once the pride of Australian football, Queensland’s A-League club is teetering on the edge.

Results and titles previously masked Brisbane’s off-field problems.

When the Roar won three championships in four years between 2011 and 2014, it wasn’t a bed of roses off the park but it didn’t seem to matter such was Brisbane’s on-field dominance.

And even in seasons 2015-16 and 2016-17 when players weren’t being paid on time and the club was in danger of being wound up due to disgruntled creditors, the Roar were more than competitive.

EMBARRASSMENT: Roar have ‘damaged the A-League’

Roar’s glory days seem a long time ago now. (Nathan Richter)

They should have won the premiership in 2016 and led 3-0 against Western Sydney Wanderers before losing 5-4 in extra-time to miss a grand final berth.

The following season they again finished third on the ladder and for the second year in succession, they came within a win of making the grand final.

But all those achievements seemed a distant memory last Tuesday night when, in front of just 1279 fans at the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre, the Roar lost 3-2 to Filipino minnows Ceres-Negro in an AFC Champions League playoff.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the night became a farce when numbers started peeling of Roar jerseys and Frenchman Eric Bautheac didn’t have a second No. 22 shirt to put on because of a schoolboy error from the club’s kitman.

So how did the club respond?

Can the club come back from the Ceres Negros travesty? (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

They issued a meek apology and then made departing football manager Craig Moore the scapegoat by blaming him for the jersey fiasco and putting him on gardening leave until his period of notice ends in mid-March.

Such extremes have been a fixture of the Bakrie Group since the Indonesian conglomerate took control of the Roar in 2011.

The #Bakriesout hashtag has been a common theme among disgruntled Brisbane fans for the past few years.

Football Federation Australia’s perceived lack of action against the Bakries — particularly when it came to financial problems — also has them on the nose with Brisbane faithful.

The majority of the Queensland football fraternity were left frustrated last year when the Bakries were offered about $12 million to sell the club to a Russian-led consortium but said no.

John Aloisi’s future hangs in the balance. (AAP Image/Albert Perez)

That the Bakries want more the $20 million for the Roar is laughable. But the Bakries won’t budge, so where do the Roar go from here?

The obvious answer is that the only way is up after the embarrassing events of last Tuesday night, but it’s hard not to think there will be more pain before there’s any gain.

Current results are amplifying the Roar’s situation.

It’s hard not to believe that coach John Aloisi’s job will be on the line if Brisbane don’t improve between now and the end of the season.

Not that Aloisi has been helped by the club’s poor infrastructure and questionable sports science arm that has contributed a host of injuries this season.

The recruiting policy of Aloisi and Moore has also been rightly scrutinised due to a host of players in the closing stages of their careers being on the Roar’s books.

But if you believe maverick Roar vice-chairman Chris Fong — who has somehow rose from the ashes of his previous controversial stint with the club to be back on the board — Aloisi’s job is safe.

But who do you believe? Others at the Roar say Aloisi is no certainty to be Brisbane’s coach next season despite his contract running until 2020.

The mixed messages are making the club look foolish.

The Roar have too many talented but old players. (Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

While owner Nirwan Bakrie is ultimately in charge, debate between Fong and chairman Rahim Soekasah about who has more power and control is causing internal friction trying to be quelled by managing director David Pourre.

Whoever is calling the shots needs to act fast, otherwise Soekasah’s declaration in October that he wanted to turn the Roar into the “largest club in Australia” will be seen as nothing more than similar lip service that has made the Bakries so unpopular with the three-time A-League champions’ dwindling fan base.