YESTERDAY we should have all been discussing the wash-up of the marvellous A-League thriller between Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory the night before, speculating on whether Melbourne's season might now be shot or if Brisbane was back in the sort of groove that could see it take out successive titles.

Instead, soccer fans all over the country found themselves talking about Clive Palmer - again.

Palmer, the large, absurdly rich, loud and opinionated businessman, who is the owner of Gold Coast United, the team languishing at the foot of the table, has turned his team into an object of scorn and derision.

With Palmer's comments in the media yesterday, he has effectively turned on the game, the A-League and his own franchise.

Palmer is entitled to his opinions and no one says he has to like soccer. It's not as if there hasn't been precedents. The Indian Venky family, who took over Blackburn Rovers last year and have shown a spectacular lack of understanding of how to run a Premier League team, are not necessarily massive fans.