“We’re in good hands when it comes to the strength of the passion in our game," Wehrman, 42, a former A-League midfielder and NSL winner with Brisbane Strikers, told FTBL from his base in Oslo, Norway. 
 
“We have those ex-Socceroos right there now on the frontline talking and discussing ideas, firing out questions, and wanting to know answers. 
 
“And we have a young CEO at FFA James Johnson who has come in during some really tough circumstances.
 
“But I have real faith and belief that he has what it takes to take us to another level.
 
“That’s why you have all these ex-Socceroos boys standing up now,” adds Wehrman, who has been an assistant coach in the Norwegian league for the past four years, most recently with Fredrikstad. 
 
 
As for specific issues that are being debated right now in Australia, Wehrman is another who advocates moving the A-League to a March to November calendar, bringing it in line with the big Asian leagues. 
 
“We really need to look at this idea hard because originally we changed the league into a summer competition in 1990, now the landscape’s changed, we must look at this,” he said. 
 
“To have NPL and A-League and youth league coinciding would work. 
 
"And when you play in 40-degree heat in the middle of summer, it was difficult for even me, a country boy from Cloncurry in NW QLD. 
 
“There’s real merit to it.
  
“And you could have an FFA Cup Final and Grand Final at the end of the season together.”
 
Football Federation Australia last week re-confirmed its intention to resume the A-League 'as soon as possible', identifying a number of criteria that need to be satisfied before a firm date for the resumption could be set.
 
However, with the league in limbo, there is a standoff with broadcaster Fox Sports over funding the league. 
 
Could the vacuum be filled in the interim with the remainder of the 2019/20 season before restarting pre-season in 2021? 
 
“There’s time for discussion before the next league games kick-off and the headlines will kick back in," belies Wehrman. “Now is the time to think outside the box. 
 
“I’ve got a lot of belief in James that he can get things right. 
 
"But we need to bring in guys like a Mark Viduka and others, real football people, to use their standing within football to help get across what we want to achieve.”