I love Graham Arnold.
I love his worried frown and his cheeky smile. I love the masculine tone of his gravelly Aussie accent as he yells across the pitch, the existential angst of his gaze as he sits on the bench. I love the effortless sense of European style he brings to a Mariners tracksuit, like a bewitching mix of George Clooney and Joachim Low.
A couple of weeks ago I met Tim Cahill, but even his charms melted into thin air compared with the raw charisma of Arnie.
All right, so I may be a little sick. But it's a sickness all Mariners' fans need to catch as soon as possible. Sure, we'll never forget that other bloke but it's time to throw our arms around the new gaffer and give him our genuine support.
It's been a long, lonely wait for the start of the A-League season and the chance for Arnie and the new boys in the squad to finally prove themselves. What could be more thrilling than to kick off with a match against Heart ?
Last season the Mariners stunned Victory in their opening round match and I have every expectation they will do so again when faced with the new Melbourne glamour side of Skoko, Aloisi, Beauchamp and Colosimo. There's nothing this team loves more than to silence the doubters and who better to lead such a team but the much-maligned Arnie ?
It's a match made in heaven and if pre-season is anything to go by, the Mariners once again look like defying their critics. What greater motivation does a team need than to be perennial underdogs? I'll bet those pre-season predictions are on the dressing room wall already.
And let's face it, every year CCM fans also thrive on seeing their team at the bottom of every expert's ladder. This guarantees we will be fired up on sheer adrenaline every time we face a more fancied team and should we beat them we'll be high as a kite for the rest of the week.
It's cheap, free of side-effects and totally legal.
But to share this high you've got to have a little blind faith in the Mariners' New Regime. We've lost our coach, our chairman and worst of all our beloved Vukes but gained some exciting new talents, making us one of the youngest teams in the league. Gone are Boogs, Heff, Macca, Redders and Elrich but who could not be fascinated to watch the likes of McBreen, Perez, Griffiths, Bozanic and Patrick Unpronounceable Surname ?
And for all those who braved the heatwaves to watch the Youth League last season, how great is it to see Gallagher, Warren, Sainsbury and the precociously talented Amini in our squad ?
As for the old guard, watching Matt Simon in pre-season leads me to predict he is once again in top form (I bought his Come Play shirt and I need it to go up in value) and Kwasaldinho is also looking dangerous.
One thing's for sure, the Mariners are reinventing themselves this season and they'll need strong fan support to make it happen. Many fans were unhappy with the club last season, especially their decision to take home games away from Bluetongue. To their credit, the club appears to have actually listened to the fans' complaints and made every effort to give the supporters a better deal.
The fixtures list looks much improved and ticketing has been re-organised to offer more choices. Best of all, the supporters bay will be back behind the goal and I can't wait to see what they have planned for our opening home game.
It's gratifying to know that clubs do sometimes pay attention to fans' opinions. In reality, their decisions are often based on business concerns but to keep the A-League alive and kicking it is also crucial they nurture the heart and soul of their true believers.
Yeah, that's us : the ones who spend far too many hours watching, talking, writing, arguing and dreaming about our home-grown football league. Our passionate and loyal support for our teams needs to be respected this season so that other prospective fans might catch our disease.
At the risk of sounding cynical, fan support cannot be acknowledged simply with advertisements or FFA awards, but with genuine opportunities to contribute our ideas. And another thing: if you really care about us, stop the unnecessary interference of the fun police !
Happy Birthday Arnie.
