Gold Coast draw controversy

Remember, it was the Brisbane club's decision to sign a bad deal with Suncorp stadium that originally lead to Miron Bleiberg's dismissal. As Bleiberg explained it a few months ago, Roar club officials failed to factor in extra match day costs, and investors soon began pressuring for change:

"So they came up with the great idea that instead of Miron Bleiberg - with all due respect to the nice guy with green eyes and attractive football - if we brought someone like Frank Farina who has a big name, the crowds would double."

That wasn't just bad business, it was cheap popularism. Sure, it might have worked if Brisbane had won a few more home games under Farina, or earned a few big home finals. But it was not to be.

Alas, my friends, that's the business of football. Anyone investing in sport knows the risks they take. If your team does well, the incentive should be potentially huge rewards. If not... well, try, try again.
Pony up or piss off.

I know times are tough all over right now. But is the A-League's artificial competitiveness to be maintained at any cost? Where's the business sense in that?

As we saw after Adelaide's brilliant run in the ACL last season, winning games, making finals and playing some beautiful football is still not enough to guarantee you financial success in Frank Lowy's A-League. It shouldn't be that way.

How do you lure new investors if even a championship victory is going to prove a curse? Or who is going to invest in a new A-League club if you cannot even get your opening game played at home?

We need a bit of natural selection here, folks.

Seriously!

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As for the regular fans from other clubs, here's a challenge. Imagine you are a billionaire who has just invested in a new A-League club of your own. How would you feel?

You've hired some competent coaches and signed up a decent squad. You would have liked to sign a dozen Socceroos, but the salary cap is keeping you honest. So be it.

Now your squad has just begun pre-season training (in horribly wet weather) but your big guns haven't even arrived. They are still finishing their regular seasons abroad, and your coaches warn you they will need some down-time before they are physically and mentally fit to start a new season. So be it!

You've organised an elaborate pre-season timetable, scheduled friendly games against top regional teams, deployed a fleet of private jets, and booked out luxury hotels for your players. But you'll still be lucky to see your full squad take the pitch together more than once before your opening A-League game.

On top of all that, you are assimilating a whole new administration headquarters, trying to keep a realistic financial bottom line, and juggling media and marketing imperatives in a region dominated by rugby, surf lifesaving and tourism.

With a new AFL consortium biting at your heels, the one big positive you have in your favour is a sealed deal to play home games at a first-class local stadium. The new season is just a few short months away, and you are already planning elaborate celebrations for your opening home game.

And then one day your CEO walks in and tells you that your first game will be played away from home, in the den of your nearest and dearest rivals. Seriously?!

As John McEnroe would say: "COME ON!!!"

I can understand, gentle readers, if you are tired of hearing about Clive's bold boasts. But that was, after all, to some extent at least, the point - a line drawn in the sand, a flag tied to the mast. An aspiration and a challenge. Or, as Miron puts it, "Someone to love and someone to hate."

It's OK to hate us, if that's what turns you on. And please do bring your best squad to defeat us on the pitch, if you think you can. But please - don't punish us before we've even kicked a ball!

If the FFA really want to see more investors climb on board, and more new clubs taking out franchises, they should ensure that every new team gets the chance to play its first game at home. Always.

Millions of new fans are out there waiting to be seduced by the beautiful game, and they deserve nothing less.