Operating within the A-League's salary cap has been one of the biggest challenges Brisbane Roar coach Robbie Fowler has had to deal with in the role.
The Liverpool legend underwent a complete overhaul of the Roar's squad after taking over in his first fulltime head coaching position earlier this year.
And he admits coming to grips with the restrictions of the cap had made his recruitment drive far from easy.
The majority of Fowler's 13 senior recruits for the 2019-20 season have been relatively low-profile additions from the lower leagues of England.
The 44-year-old admits he's been left baffled by the calibre of talent some of his rivals have been able to pull together in their squads.
"It's been a bit of a nightmare to be honest," Fowler said.
"When you look at some of the teams, I don't know how teams do it.
"For example you look at Sydney last week when we played them, there's players on mega, mega deals.
"I know there's a way around salary caps but I'm still learning."
Fowler's comments come a day after Melbourne City captain Scott Jamieson became the latest A-League identity to suggest it's time the cap was adjusted.
Jamieson labelled the cap a "shambles" and suggested it should be reserved to Australian players with clubs allowed to then spend whatever they like on their quota of imports.
"Teams are spending the floor of their salary cap and other teams are spending a lot more, and it's not really doing anything for the competition to make it fair," Jamieson said.
Australian Associated Press
