It's usually accompanied by some slick sounding marketing gobbledygook - the most recent being the mantra that FFA will ''fish where the fish are'' - and financially conservative warnings that the game cannot afford to overstetch itself, take risks or, heaven forbid, have another club collapse lest it presage armageddon for the sport. It wouldn't be a great look, but neither would it be ruinous for the game. The reaction is invariably what the FFA wants. It shuts down criticism (at least for a day or two) while the Twitterati and social media melts down with suggestions, and arguments between those who advocate wholesale growth and those who fear that already scant resources will be stretched to breaking point should too many clubs be allowed to play on the big boys' pitches. Ask anyone in the professional game what the big priorities are and they will tell you, with the order depending on their personal perspective: The creation of an independent A-League;

Wholesale reform of FFA's board;

The removal of Steven Lowy and David Gallop as FFA chairman and chief executive;

An increase in distributions to clubs;

An increase in the salary cap;

The removal of the salary cap;

The Socceroos' performance in the World Cup;

More infrastructure for junior and community clubs (something the players' union, the PFA, is far more likely to promote than A-League clubs). But talk to fans and supporters who are currently switching off in droves because they are bored with the sameness of a 10-team competition, and they need only one sentence to tell you what they want most.

Expansion of the A-League is the No.1 priority, closely followed (for many) by the creation of a second division with promotion and relegation to come as soon as practicable. Sydney FC's Adrian Mierzejewski. Will A-League expansion include a second tier for relegation and promotion? Credit:AAP Whenever I dip my toe into the often fetid waters of Twitter, whenever I do a radio show (mainly these days on the FNR digital network) or whenever I address the issue in a column such as this, expansion of the A-League, and the creation of a second division, generates more discussion than any other topic. FFA has held out the prospect of expansion occurring for the 2019-20 season. That is the very latest they should do it given the state of ennui that surrounds the current competition.

And instead of two teams, why not four, why not six? If there are credible bids, fully costed and with viable and feasible sponsorship and revenue streams, why not go the whole hog and go for a big bang effect? The league is stultifying now, so something drastic is needed to re-energise the fans who are dropping away, the subcribers who are ending their pay TV deals, the jaded and cynical supporters (and media) who long for the infusion of a new narrative to rekindle their commitment. There has to be a second division. FFA says that it is, in principle, in favour of such a development, but always couches its approval as occurring in the mists of time. Deep time, it seems. Why? Why not give guidelines now, with definitive criteria that must be met, and announce the creation of a 14- or 16-team second division ready to go in 2019-20 to coincide with the enlargement of the A-League.

South Melbourne take on Sydney FC in an FFA Cup semi-final. Credit:AAP The first teams that could be included would be those credible A-League bidders who don't make the cut this time: if South Melbourne, the most fervent of the ''traditional'' teams pushing for a spot in the big league, don't get the nod now, they would be perfect candidates to be founder members of a second-tier national league. The rest of that league could be made up of the most credible of the existing NPL teams, ambitious community clubs with the fiscal backing to make a leap forward, or even new franchises designed to meet a market need where one is currently unserviced. Fishing where the fish are, so to speak. The A-League could then be enlarged over the next four or five years, with the champions of the second division taking their place at the top table. When four clubs have gone up - making the A-League a 16-team competition - then relegation could be introduced. By then it would be season 2024-25, 19 years after the launch of the original A-League.

Yes, there would be questions around the TV deal, and yes, it would be frustrating for fans in one particular state if they had two or three teams in division two rather than in the top tier. But if those clubs invested, developed good players and were well run they could win their way back to the upper echelon. It's how it happens all over the world. Don't forget that in the last 40 years the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea have all been outside England's top division, while top tier sides in Germany like RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim barely existed 20 years ago. Soccer needs to be in a state of constant flux to develop. Gallop makes guarded references to the owners of the existing clubs being give a chance to recoup their losses, but they have already had 13 years to do that, many of them working as monopolies in their markets. If they haven't been able to make a profit by now, perhaps they will need the stimulus of competition, on the pitch and commercially, to lift their game. After all, a patent only lasts 20 years. FFA, meanwhile, has confirmed that Gallop's contract has been extended in a deal concluded last year that was never publicly announced. Given the way the game is trending, he can consider himself a very fortunate sports executive indeed.