I have a lot of people constantly tell me that I don't know much about football. I never argue, because they're right... I really don't know much about football. I'm rubbish at Football Manager & FIFA, I still think that Harry Kewell was hard done by in South Africa, and I can rarely tell the difference between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1 unless it's spelled out for me on a sheet of paper.

My love for football is the tension and the excitement of game day, usually because of the fans and the atmosphere they create despite the best efforts of the FFA and their hired goons to hamper fans at every turn over the past 5 seasons.

This past weekend has opened up a glimmer of hope that the FFA may have actually turned a corner in their philosophy towards the thing that makes the A-League truly different from other codes in this country - the fans. Still, I won't be convinced until I am able to go to a match without being subjected to over-the-top surveillance and data-mining tactics that wouldn't be out of place in a James Bond film.

If the FFA want to prove that they really do value the fans, they'll get rid of Hatamoto as soon as bureaucratically possible - if not before... but that's a blog for another day.

Here's my outlandish prediction for the season. It's going to be the best yet, and there are some supporter groups that need to be acknowledged and congratulated for their efforts straight off the bat.

An off-the-pitch review of round 1.
Football-wise, the worst named rivalry in the league certainly lived up to expectations with six goals, defending blunders, dodgy refereeing and of course - Kevin Muscat.

Credit has to go to Sydney FC fans for their impressive pullover over the weekend, but they lose points for both the young wankers that feel it necessary to scream obscenities at opposition players taking corners and not being able to tell the difference between a feebling Kevin Muscat and a freshly shaved Rodrigo Vargas - resulting in fans slathered in baby blue not knowing who exactly to boo and direct their general distaste. God knows what will happen when Matthew Kemp and his beautiful baldness returns to the Melbourne Victory lineup in time for the next ‘Big Blue'.

Credit also needs to go to the small pocket of outnumbered Melbourne Victory fans for being heard at times over the Cove during the match, especially during the calls for Marvin Angulo to take the pitch. Unfortunately, Ernie's perm seemed to be plugging up his ears and the call went unanswered until the 91st minute. Melbourne boys do lose points for losing their shirts though. Unless you're a Paraguayan hottie promising to streak naked if your team does well (and finding new ways to store electronic equipment in outfits with no pockets), no-one needs to see your man boobs and beer guts... as impressive and lovingly tended to with beer and pies, not that I'm judging, as they may be.

Biggest fan faux-pas of the round goes to the new boys at Melbourne Heart, who thought it prudent to present a pullover covered with the crests of some of the great domestic clubs of footballing past (and present when you include the VPL). Members of the Yarraside group say that it was a sign of respect and showing that Melbourne has a very long footballing history with Heart being the latest chapter, fans of these clubs weren't buying it though and there are a lot of supporters of "old soccer" clubs that aren't happy being associated with a product they have no interest in. The Yarraside response has been fairly poor, with members telling fans of VPL clubs that they should be happy with the exposure and that they had no requirements to ask for permission to use the crests. Perhaps the law is on your side, boys, but it's pretty disrespectful all the same.

Ironically, the Melbourne Victory badge was missing from the banner - perhaps it would have been a good idea to include that along with the former NSL clubs. Heart do, after all, only exist because of the relative on and off field success of the original A-League club from Melbourne.

Addressing the critics
I can be a cranky bugger at the best of times, sometimes to the point of losing the rationality of the message I'm trying to convey. You'll find over the course of this blog that I will call things the way I see them without being particularly worried if others agree with me or not.

It's fair to say that with my last blog, I didn't win any friends in New Zealand - nor was I expecting to. Over the past fortnight I've been somewhat unfairly called a racist, hate monger, a "thin-lipped young bloke so full of pride and boastfulness who's incapable of humility" and most terrible of all - "Andrew Bolt-esque". That said, the chaps over at Yellow Fever did improve my blog photo somewhat by photoshopping a very turdy looking Tim Tam over the top of it so I thank them for that.

It's certainly true that I have always been supportive of the A-League being a pure domestic league, filled with franchises that are based and supported by Australians although the notion that I'm some kind of hate-filled racist is an incorrect one. Wellington supporters have always had my admiration, and will continue as long as we share a love for Tim Tams.

The FFA have chosen to persist with a different route than my all-Australian ideal, and my issue is squarely with the FFA for that decision that I believe, with good reason, continues to be to the detriment of the relationship between the AFC and the FFA. I acknowledge that Wellington Phoenix is a well run and well supported club, but I don't believe that's enough anymore. Sorry if you don't like that, and thanks for all the responses telling me that you don't.