Yoshi's City pick met with cynicism on social media

Even young Yoshi can't escape what appears to be a rising tide of anti-Melbourne City sentiment in the game.

Yoshi at the 2016/17 A-League season launch Source: Getty Images

The 10-year-old boy is the centre of Football Federation Australia's "You've Gotta Have A Team" advertising campaign for this A-League season and he announced on Thursday morning that he had plumped for City as his side.

It isn't hard to understand a kid with stars in his eyes reacting to being wooed by a powerhouse club that featured Socceroo superstar Tim Cahill as a huge magnet, but the announcement was still greeted with cynicism on social media.

The cynics clearly believe City is the FFA's club, presumably based largely on the governing body's action in assisting City financially with the expensive signing of Cahill under the guest marquee player rule that was extended to cover the full season, as opposed to just part of it.

FFA is using Cahill and the enormous publicity he brings the game as a tool designed to attract a bigger television deal.

The guest marquee rule has been loosely termed the "Tim Cahill rule" and there was always going to be resentment from some who felt City, backed by the mega-rich City Football Group, had an unfair advantage over other clubs when it came to the rule.

City would, of course, argue that they are simply playing by the rules, which they are.

The rivalry between City and the other Melbourne team, Victory, has reached new heights now City, which had struggled in its early days as Melbourne Heart, is hugely competitive and even looks to have gone past its "big brother".

City beat Victory 4-1 in round two of the A-League and backed that up with a 2-0 win over Victory in a semi-final of the FFA Cup on Tuesday night.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat dropped his guard during and after the latter match. Upset at refereeing decisions, he complained on the sideline during the game and at the post-match media conference about their being "two sets of rules".

As he exited the media conference he said "at least the FFA gets the result they want”.

Muscat was cited under the FFA National Code of Conduct and had until 5pm on Thursday to provide a submission.

FFA said the applicable sanctions for a breach included "a reprimand, a fine and/or suspension from participation in a match or matches".