IT WOULD be easy to just ignore the knockers, but it would defeat the purpose of blogging really. The Mariners deserve some respect.

The title of this blog is misleading, I know. Bluetongue, like so many other A-League grounds, is in fact not a fortress at all, at least not yet.

No, what I am really on about is respect. Yes, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as Aretha Franklin famously sang.

Perhaps I’m just overly sensitive, but I’m really getting irritated in the extreme... you know... to the point where you get that nervous twitch happening it the corner of your left eye.

I’m alluding to the mentality of being under constant siege by what seems to be the broader football fraternity.

Now to expand on the roots of my discontent, as Peter Griffin would say, ‘what really grinds my gears’ are the backhanded compliments handed to the Mariners when they win, or when they are generally doing well (read Mike Cockerill – SMH 17 Nov).

Contempt is frequently and poorly disguised as flattery. The team’s success is attributed to their tactical style of play, being both ‘direct’, and or ‘physical’. Now neither of these descriptions by themselves are untrue, nor unfair.

However, is it only me, or does anyone read the subtext that implies these tactics are somehow cheap. It seems to me that our tactical choices are equated to merely being some ploy with the moral equivalence of taking a dive. Well, maybe not quite that cheap, but you get my point.

It’s an inference that the team is fundamentally limited. Are they really? Or is it that they execute tactics better than their opponents?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest there is a Fox/SBS/Fairfax media conspiracy to attempt to diminish the Mariners at every opportunity.

Yes (insert name of pundit here), I will concede they don’t pass the ball like Arsenal, but then neither does anyone else in this league (Gamba Osaka on the other hand, well...they were at least Arsenal-lite, in terms of technique and style of play).

Don’t get me wrong, I actually have a lot of time for Mike Cockerill’s insight. However he (and others) perpetuate a kind of grudging acceptance of the consistency of the Mariners performances over the life of the league to date.

Acknowledgement of the Mariners success is usually qualified with a comment along the lines of, ‘yes but Melbourne have the squad depth’, or ‘Sydney have the big names’, or 'Kossie is a genius’, and so on. The intent being to throw into question the Mariners credentials over the long haul.

Results don’t lie – the Mariners have at least matched Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle’s accomplishments over the three and a half years. Only Adelaide could arguably claim to have achieved more.

I won’t bother re-stating the record, as finals appearances, and trophies/titles are indisputable facts. The only subjective argument that I won’t enter into here, is whether or not a Premiership is more of an accomplishment than a Championship (in A-League terms).

I could leave you with the observation that no other club football competition uses a finals series to establish a champion – but...

In respect of relative crowd support levels, there has also been some negative commentary this season. Again, the facts don’t lie.

If you divide the average crowd figure (this season) by the reported ABS populations, and by way of further explanation, for Newcastle I have included Port Stephens and Maitland, you get the following ‘attendance rate’(calculations based on thousands):

Mariners 3.2% (9.5/300)
Newcastle 3.1% (11.5/373)
Melbourne 0.66% (23.8/3592)
Sydney 0.35% (14.2/4119)

I have calculated the others (ex Phoenix), but really wanted to demonstrate again the point that the Mariners, and fans, should be pretty pleased with how things are going. I acknowledge that overall A-league crowd numbers are down on last year. However those seeking to criticise the Mariners, should look to their own backyards.

Note again to Mike C - Mariners fans don’t all wear thongs and stubbies to the game either (although my wife did comment that I was dressed like a dag, I was wearing closed-in footwear).

Finally, it’s worth re-capping where we stand at the halfway point of the season. At this point last year, the Mariners were first. We finished first. This season we are second, and after this weekend, could be first. We have the most potent attack in the league, and confidence is high.

Despite what the knockers say (or think), we are in very good shape.