A WEEK is a long time in football. And an off-season, I’m sure all A-League fans will agree, seems like an eternity.
For GC United, those three months have seen many clubs step up to the plate and match Clive Palmer's ambition... something that is wonderful for the local league but certainly damaging to the Glitter Strip club's lofty ambitions.
Back when 2009 was as fresh and new as Nick Carle in a Pim Verbeek Socceroos side, United's squad of stars was just starting to come together. With stars like Smeltz, Porter, Thwaite, Vanstratten and Culina on board, a debut championship was not only the goal but a realistic target.
Indeed, with the woeful showing of 2008 champions Newcastle plus the ineptitude that was shown by Perth, Sydney and Wellington in challenging for A-League glory Bleiberg's squad looked like it was genuinely a class above HAL standard. Even the four finalists could only occasionally muster a spectacular performance and didn't exactly have dynamic squads (Paul Agostino playing in the grand final?).
Fast-forward to June, and the landscape is completely different. Now Culina will be competing with Socceroos teammates and new Perth Glory signings Jacob Burns and Mile Sterjovski. Perth have also added promising imports Andy Todd, Branko Jelic and Victor Sikora and look like a real force for the coming season. Newcastle too have completely revamped their squad and if the likes of Milicevic, Topor-Stanley, Petrovski, Vignaroli and de Groot can do in the HAL what they've done in the ACL, season ‘08-‘09 will soon be a distant memory.
Queensl... sorry... Brisbane and Melbourne have managed to keep together the bulk of two of the stronger squads of last season. The Victory in particular look very dangerous with Carlos Hernandez signed permanently, Glen Moss and Mitch Langerak likely to prove adequate cover for the loss of Theoklitos and the exciting signing of Surat Sukha- the first South East Asian player in the HAL. Successive championships are very much on the cards.
Among the other sides, Sydney could be a whole new outfit under Lavicka and with Karol Kisel pulling the strings in midfield. Adelaide may have found a striker partner for Cristiano in Ghanaian journeyman Lloyd Owusu. The Fury have... well... Robbie Fowler. Even Central Coast and Wellington have an extra international each on their books thanks to John Hutchinson and Manny Muscat being capped by Malta (which reminds me I really must check my family tree for any distant relatives from Vanuatu or San Marino).
It would be arrogant to say that GC United's rampaging assault on the HAL status quo was the catalyst for so many clubs lifting their standard for season ‘09-‘10. But... hey! We're the Gold Coast and being arrogant is our speciality! So all A-League fans should be forever grateful that Clive Palmer and Miron Bleiberg's vision has resulted in a new standard of football almost across the board (sorry Mariners and Phoenix fans but I don't think Chris Doig and Chris Greenacre are going to be enough).
I don't think anyone can predict how the coming season will play out. If you'd asked me back in January, I would've happily suggested Gold Coast were good enough to win the league first try. Now I'm not so sure. They still have a great squad and I still can't wait to see them belt Roar in round 1. But with the league looking just that extra bit classier and with another 2 months for teams to continue to push the envelope that is the salary cap, it's going to be a massive challenge for Gold Coast (or any other club) to mount a decisive championship bid.
