Gotta love a short off season. It seems like it was just yesterday I was lamenting a "FAIL" season by my beloved Roar. The season was a waste, we finished second last, crowds were deplorable and our players were exiting at a rapid pace.

Most of them I didn't mind losing, but when the three youngsters all went to Utrecht for a "training" trip and didn't return I think we hit our lowest ebb. The fans were left wondering if these clowns know what they're doing, or are they hell bent on driving the club into the ground?

Slowly but surely however the club is building a team, and building momentum, creating excitement in the Roar ranks. Which is a change, because usually those in orange have come to expect doom and gloom from our club, and the inevitable fall into mediocrity.

From the outset the owners of the club started making the right noises. The kind of positive spin you want to hear from your club in the midst of "crisis" rumours. Drivas, Kokoris, and the Baradel's (now referred to as the Greeks) came out pledging their commitment to the club.

Maybe the supposed 1.8 million from the sale of Oar, Sarota and Zullo gave them confidence. Never the less, they spoke of passion, working hard and building a team as well as seeking further investment in the club. All very heartwarming sentiments, but intentions don't get us to the Promised Land, actions do.

Another major piece of business was the re-signing of a stadium deal with Suncorp, despite some rumours that Ballymore was going to be given a go. For those who have been to Ballymore and experienced the wretched public transport and aging stadium would see this as a positive.

Reportedly the move to Ballymore may have saved Roar a good deal of money, but how can you have the premier rectangular stadium in Australia and not use it? Thankfully calm heads prevailed. The negotiations also netted a new break-even mark for Roar. It had been said that our break-even mark under the old stadium deal was 15 000.

Our new deal lowered that mark to 11 000 which is a lot more reasonable considering our crowd average last year was 8651, which is no doubt attributed to poor results, poor marketing, poor scheduling and deplorable ticket prices.

The make up of the team is taking shape as well. The signing of the new Roar has been broadcast as erratically as the signings have been made. It's almost as if Roar management are trying to spread the news out over the off season.

Theoklitos, Redmayne, Matt Smith, Steffanuto, Barbarouses, Paartalu, Visconte and now the German midfielder Thomas Broich have all joined the Orange revolution in recent months. Such an injection of players into a team can only excite the staunchest Roar fan. There is a possibility of more to come. It's obvious we need another top class striking option, and we all hope that follows soon.

Despite losing three of our youngest and most promising players to Holland, Roar have continued to unearth youngsters who look the goods. We have seen Dario Vidosic, Oar, Sarota, Zullo go on to bigger and better things from a Roar Beginning. As well as Minnecon and Kruse also depart for other A-League pastures, so there is no doubt Roar produce good players.

Keep in mind we have Luke Devere on the books who is only 20, but this year we have also brought Luke Bratten into the senior team, signing him up to a three year deal. Bratten has already played eight times for the under 20s national team and is an exciting prospect.

I watched him again two weeks ago as Roar played their first pre-season game against Brisbane City. Bratten has silky skills and a vast array of passes. He set up one of the goals through a whip like cross when he was actually playing at right back. Right now we have approximately 17 or 18 players on the roster (dependant on if we re-sign Cernak), and are currently trialling some youngsters. We do have to keep an open spot for the winner of Football Superstar (which starts on Thursday on Fox 8).

All things considered, Roar have a lot going for them. My hope and dream is for the perfect storm. Including the ingredients of a new and exciting roster making the fans swarm to watch us, new low low ticket prices making it affordable for everyone to come to the football, Fox 8 Football Superstar promoting the hell out of the Brisbane Roar (maybe even giving us a good player?), the 2010 FIFA World Cup wetting the publics appetite for live football, a preseason game versus Everton FC again getting people to the football and a new stadium deal for Roar, which has lowered the bar for us to break even.

Sounds like a good recipe for a successful season on and off the pitch. All we have to do now is win some games. Easy enough.