(Nick Yallop is a BPL A-League blogger)

Last week, fellow BPL blogger - Jonathan Howcroft asked, somewhat rhetorically, "what is the point of the A-League?"

He put forward a number of arguments that basically outlined why he thought the league was pointless.

Some I agreed with, most I did not. I felt they illustrated a lack of understanding of soccer's place in Australian sporting culture and where it stands in what is probably the most competitive professional sports marketplace in the world.

For a start, he asked whether the A-League aims to be a stand-alone revenue-generating league akin to the English Premier League.

I find any comparison between our fledgling A-League and the all-conquering EPL to be completely absurd.

I can recall an episode of ABC's Offsiders earlier this year, when News Limited sports journalist Rebecca Wilson was highly critical of A-League crowd numbers because they didn't match those in the EPL.

Comments such as these display a complete ignorance of our league and what it is trying to achieve.

The A-League does not aspire to be the EPL, because any such objective is far-fetched. Football Federation Australia is trying to provide Australian soccer fans with what we need: an attractive product that is family-friendly and entertaining.

And, so far I think they have done a pretty serviceable job: Melbourne Victory is entrenched in the nation's sporting capital, Adelaide and Perth are drawing great crowds and most pundits agree the standard of soccer has never been better.

The first five-and-a-half seasons have not been perfect and many changes need to be made to improve the product, but to say there is no point is missing the point.

Ethnic divisions provided the death knell for the old National Soccer League and caused fans to desert the troubled competition in droves.

We wanted a competition that would unite Australia's soccer community, and, in 2005, the A-League gave us this.

I can remember feeling relieved and excited when the new league was launched and I still feel very confident it will prosper. But we must be realistic.

The A-League started as a blank canvass and is only five-and-a-half years-old. It is important to remember this fact when you start comparing it to the EPL (started in 1888), AFL (1897) and NRL (1908).

These are entrenched professional leagues, each filled with a rich history. The A-League is a toddler, learning to walk and experiencing significant teething problems.

Football Federation Australia would rightly be unhappy with the opening two months of the sixth season. But critics should relax and understand that the league is young and problems are inevitable.

Administrators need to find out what the most viable structure looks like, and errors are always going to be made on this journey.

The financial crises at Newcastle and Gold Coast would be causing the most concern, while Melbourne Heart's inability to grab attention is also a little worrying.

How can Gold Coast, a team that is drawing the lowest crowds the league has ever seen, afford the league's most expensive player, Jason Culina? It doesn't make sense.

While he is also probably the league's best player, Gold Coast clearly cannot afford him and would be better off without the Socceroo. Why was a club that is forced to close stands allowed to sign such an expensive player?

The club's hierarchy could argue they didn't predict the public's lack of interest, but surely mining magnate owner Clive Palmer is an astute enough businessman to have seen the writing on the wall.

Newcastle Jets seem to be suffering from similarly problematic budgeting issues, as they have struggled to pay their players all season.

This is not a good look and the league's administrators need to go in to these clubs and sort out their books. If it means players, coaches or other staff need to take pay cuts, so be it.

Judging by the poor crowds that have characterised the start of this A-League season, FFA will need to take some tough measures to ensure the league's longevity.

Just as Melbourne Heart CEO Scott Munn said this week, the season should start in October once the AFL and NRL grand finals have been run and won.

Whatever needs to be done to maintain a healthy A-League must be done, because it is an asset to our sporting landscape and important to Australia's dedicated soccer public. That's the point.