Newcastle Jets boss Ernie Merrick is relishing the winds of change blowing through football in Australia – and especially the prospect of an extended subs bench.
Merrick last month courted controversy over speculation the number of A-League visa players could be expanded to six per team, and he questioned the merits of the idea.
But talking to the FTBL Podcast, he insists the changes are all moving in the right direction to take the game to the next level.
The owners of the A-League clubs are in the process of taking control of the competition from Football Federation Australia and are expected to bring a series of rule changes once the legalities are finalised.
"I like the people that are involved now," Merrick told FTBL. "I think the FFA did a great job, but in order to grow, we've got to run our own clubs and our own competition.
"It's happened in just about every other country in the world as well. And it's the way forward."
Innovations Merrick says he expects the bosses to make include the option of more subs on the sidelines and an improved youth league.
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"They're allowing for more younger players, under 23 players on the bench," he revealed. "Instead of five players, it might be up to seven, maybe more. And so that's a plus.
"Plus, there's an intention of improving the Youth League. Rather than having a mini league with only eight matches, the National Youth League will improve with the number of games they play.
"I think the standards improve, and I'd love to see them lifting the age a little bit higher than 20, as they did in English Premier League – the reserve teams are under 23s now, plus some seniors.
"So I think they've made a lot of good moves in those areas."
He added: "I did say the standard of refereeing has got to improve and I talked about visa players as well.
"But whatever they do, I think they've got a right to make changes and and have a look and see if it improves the game or not.
"And everything they're doing until now has been first class."
Merrick has been a part of the A-League since the very first match in 2005 when he was boss of Melbourne Victory before a later stint with Wellington Phoenix.
But it's a reflection of the current turnover of coaches in the A-League that just his spell at Newcastle alone - now about to start its third season - would make him the longest serving coach currently in the competition.
And Merrick says he's seen the league take some mis-steps along the way in its 14 year history - but the future is now shining bright.
"It's like any business or entertainment entity," he told FTBL. "You have your moments when things grow very quickly. And then it sort of plateaus off.
"I thought the first eight years were tremendous. And then we really needed to add an extra team, that's taken a while.
"Adding the FFA Cup has been great, and I think there's over 700 teams playing that now, that's a wonderful thing.
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LISTEN TO THE FTBL PODCAST HERE NOW:
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"And now we've added yet another side from Melbourne, Western United, and there will be a team coming in from the outer suburbs of Sydney next year.
"To see the owners taking control of the league, similar to what happened in England with the Premier League, I think we're certainly heading in the right direction.
"And I think there'll be a rapid growth."
He added: "The future's looking really bright, especially with the people in charge and the marketing that's going to be involved.
"And also ABC as well as Fox, everything's looking really good."
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