And not just for Newcastle Jets. If Newcastle are struggling with low gate takings what do you think must be the situation in other locations? We all know the scandal of Gold Coast United and the crowd cap. What a laugh! What a way to "grow" the league and "expand".

The local news says that the Jets need to pull 12,000 at every game to break even. How often has the average attendance been above 12,000? And not just for the Jets but other clubs also. Sydney? Hello? Is anyone there? Melbourne Victory appear to be holding the league crowd averages up, followed probably by Sydney and Adelaide.

Then there's the recent savage attack on the FFA by former A-League boss Archie Fraser. And all he's saying is a lot of things we fans have been pointing out for some time now: in particular the A-League languishing while the FFA focuses on the World Cup.

One of the main points raised on this website and others by reader's posts over this A-League season and the last is the massive lack of investment in advertising. What on EARTH is going on!?  To know that the A-League was going on, you would have to be tuned to Foxtel, during half-time of an A-League game, then you would see an advertisement. Great.

Fraser says "There is no promotion of the game and no cohesive strategy". Yup, I would agree with that. In fact, before reading Fraser's words, I was going to suggest that the FFA have taken some chimps from the local zoo and locked them in a room with a list of the teams and a whiteboard and let them be. How else could we get such a bizarre fixture list?

Back to the Jets and its kneejerk management philosophy. I can't help thinking that the unpaid wages issue is just a pawn used by Con Constantine to make a stronger case in negotiating with the FFA and the government over the stadium leasing arrangements.

There have to be better ways to negotiate, surely. There has to be a better way than treating your players, the lifeblood of the club, so poorly. And it's not the first time this has happened either. And Fraser pipes up and says that the FFA have known about it for months. So you know, maybe the ball isn't all in Con's court.

Lastly, thank you to the players. While the first half of last weekend's game wasn't pretty, the lads did a great job of stopping a usually fluid Brisbane Roar under tough circumstances. If I am feeling blue as a fan, I can imagine how the players must be feeling, not even being paid their wages.

Fortunately, the second half lit up, particularly after the introduction of Zhang Shuo. When the Chinese striker came onto the field, there was an instant change in the game. The Jets were attacking and Shou was making space everywhere he went, providing some lovely passes and crosses.

It will only be a matter of time before these turn from nice turns and tricky runs to assists and goals. Once the rest of the team get on the same wavelength and can anticipate his moves and passes the Jets will lift a level.

The lack of goals for the Jets this season is also a huge dark cloud, but I'm hoping with Shou, Bridges, Abbas and Rooney circling around the front third, we'll see that cloud lift too.