GOLD Coast Head Coach Miron Bleiberg must be pinching himself every morning these days.

"Where am I? Amsterdam? Rio? What's on my agenda today? Oh, yeah... LOCHIAM!!" [I'm very possibly showing great ignorance here, but I have no idea what this Lochiam means and neither, apparently, does Google. Anyone? Bueller?? - KA]

From a football devotee's perspective, it doesn't get much better than this - travelling the world, putting together a hand-picked squad, starting from scratch, with a billionaire fan at your back, and only the FFA's salary cap rules to restrict you. The former Queensland Roar and Brisbane Strikers coach is surely relishing every moment of it.

But Miron today is a man on a mission, and this time it's personal. The squad that takes the pitch at Skilled Park will be designed to prove a few points about how Bleiberg thinks football can - and should - be played in Australia.

As a coach, Bleiberg has always pursued a vision of footballing excellence, grounded on solid technical skills, with bucketloads of flair and passion. It doesn't always come off. And yet for every bizarre Bleiberg coaching decision that ended in sorrow, many others have brought tears of joy (not to mention quite a few championships).

Even his harshest detractors concede that Miron Bleiberg is touched with a stroke of genius. As a seasoned colleague explained it to me last week:

"When you sit next to Miron on the sidelines for a full game, you see everything differently. He's always pointing out things you didn't see, explaining problems and solutions in ways you wouldn't have imagined."

To understand what's going through Bleiberg's head these days, as he watches games and discusses contracts, let's take a look at a couple of videos.

First up, here's Shane Smeltz, Gold Coast's biggest declared signing to date, scoring against Roar.

It's clinical finishing, of course, but the key to it is how Smeltz brings down an awkward ball with his chest as he's running through, then controls it with just one touch of his right boot. After that, his head is up and he's looking around, just waiting for the moment.

It's that one-touch control that Bleiberg is looking for. That's why Shane Smeltz is the A-League's top scorer this season, and that's why Miron Bleiberg is travelling to Hartlepool, UK next week.

If you didn't see it last year, when Joel Porter was almost on his way to Wellington, take a look at this video:

That early chip of the keeper says it all. But the other goals are almost as impressive. One touch, maybe two. Bang!

Bleiberg wants every player in his squad to have that same first-touch control, that same vision, that same instinct for beautiful football. Even the defenders will need to have superb passing skills and a good feel for "the transition game".

It's a European style of play that some critics say A-League-level players simply cannot deliver. But Bleiberg's vision is shared by both Gold Coast club owner Clive Palmer and fellow coach Paul Okon, a former Serie A star who has been studying coaching techniques in Italy and Holland.

Of course, Gold Coast still have a salary cap to deal with, but even the lesser-known players will need to have proved themselves capable (on a good day at least) of delivering that vision. And that's how Bleiberg is planning to fill Skilled Park on a regular basis:

"There will be a lot of people who will be curious to see what is the new entity here. Maybe they watch basketball, Aussie Rules, or League, so we have a mission to convert these fans to come to this beautiful stadium and have them come again. By playing boring football, you won't do that."

The Jose Mourinho of Australian soccer (as Michael Cockerill once called him) is now putting together the A-League's version of Chelsea (as opposition fans like to characterise it). Like it or not, the result could be every bit as successful. If so, the game in Australia may never be the same again.

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Meanwhile, a few people in Hartlepool are getting nervous about losing Joel Porter.

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Finally, here's how Bleiberg, a former Israeli naval captain, once described his attitude to coaching:

"I am the captain and the leader of the ship. There is no democracy - it is a dictatorship and I am the boss. There can be a laugh and a joke but I have the last say. We can be friends but I also keep my distance. Give them a finger and they'll take the whole hand."

Ouch! Maybe it's lucky that Bleiberg, having assembled the squad, will be handing over day-to-day coaching to Paul Okon next season.