TRENT Barrett continues to remain in limbo, with Manly chairman and majority owner Scott Penn standing firm on the coach’s contract.

Barrett’s future is up in the air after the Sea Eagles appointed Des Hasler as head coach on Monday, despite still having Barrett on the books.

Talks are ongoing between the Sea Eagles and their former coach, as he officially remains an employee of the club through until next July, as per his 12-month resignation notice period.

“It is what it is and we’ll work through it and we’ll see how we go,” Barrett told Channel 9 after a meeting with his own management.

“I’ve got no idea what’s happening at the minute. That’s all I can say, sorry.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Manly chief executive Lyall Gorman claimed that the legal dispute between the club and Barrett “will be resolved over the next couple of weeks”.

But Penn told Channel 9 that the club weren’t looking to pay out the remainder of Barrett’s contract.

“No, that’s not something we’ve discussed and we will pay him in accordance to his contact,” Penn said.

“That was how (Barrett) was brought into the club, as head coach. I think that the reality is that he’s resigned from that position so the club has to protect its position.

“This is not personal, this is just as a company we need to protect our position and make sure that we’ve got continuity of service for 2019.”

When it was put to him that Barrett’s management had the club “over a barrel”, Penn replied: “That’s up to them, but we’re confident of our position in terms of just protecting the interests of the company.”

Penn was confident the club won’t find itself in salary cap trouble under Hasler.

“He’ll certainly be an instrumental part in it,” Penn said.

“I think NRL governance requirement is now that you have a committee and that you have multiple people on that committee so it’s not just one person managing it.

“It is a different environment to what it was back then.

“As an individual, he’s always been a master of cap management.”