At the break, McKinna was clearly seen by Fox Sports cameras in the Mariners dressing room typing a Tweet on his Blackberry. The Tweet was revealed to be his thoughts on the first half and the coming 45 minutes. 

But the Mariners coach points out it only took 20 seconds and was done after he'd finished his half-time talk.  It was also the first time he'd Twittered at a half time break since joining the micro-blogging website on December 8.

The very public Twittering raised eyebrows on the Fox Sports broadcast with pundit Mark Bosnich saying he disagreed with it - particularly at half-time.  

"It was put to us that it might be a good idea to engage the fans more and keeping our supporters and other supporters in the loop," McKinna told au.fourfourtwo.com when quizzed today.

McKinna has been on Twitter for about a week (http://twitter.com/LawrieMcKinna). One example from last Thursday reads: 'Check out fox news Jeff [Heffernan] and myself on. I will be on star fm at 8 am in the morning listen in I [if] you can.'

And another reads:  'If you see a white Hyundai Tuscan and the drivers singing going through lisarow wave its me.'

But there are also match day Tweets that keep supporters - particularly those without access to Fox Sports - right up to date on any Internet-enabled device.

For instance: 'Starting 11.danny porter boogs wilko heff lewis hutch pedj travis simon kwas bench elrich crowell mrdj and redmayne 4-4-2,' was Tweeted by McKinna just before kick-off in the Victory clash.

"It's about stuff the fans wouldn't know. When you go on away trips, nobody knows what goes on," he said.

"I was Twittering at the W-League game today and with stuff in training. But I'm going to have a meeting tomorrow [Monday] with the club's media to get their feedback."

Twitter is a free micro-blogging service of no more than 140 characters that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent updates on events in your life.

On a weekend of more gloomy attendances - the best crowd was in Gosford where 7571 saw Victory defeat the Mariners 3-0 - McKinna's innovative marketing has clearly worked. His number of 'followers' - those signing up to his Tweets - has gone from a handful to 156.

"Straight after the game, 38 people had joined [as a follower] and today there's been another 30-40," McKinna said.

In a league where bland responses and a lack of personality and colour are the norm - Jets boss Branko Culina was recently fined $3000 for saying the word "shit" at a post match press conference - McKinna has found an exciting new way to engage fans.

And while he was reluctant to speculate on if he thought other A-League coaches should start their own Twittering, he said it was also a good way to take his mind off the day-to-day stresses of coaching without taking away from his job.

"If it only takes 20 seconds, I can jump in my car and let people know I've put on my lucky music... it's not a big deal to me. It doesn't impinge on the coaching role at all," he said.

"And if you're quite open to things and want to let fans know... Let's see how the numbers go. And the feedback I've had has been really good."

He added: "Although some fans don't believe it's me doing it, although if you read the spelling and punctuation, it's definitely me!"