It feels like an age since the end of the last Premier League campaign, a lifetime since the 2006 World Cup kicked off and years since England were losing on penalties on a sweltering Gelsenkirchen afternoon.
The new season hasn't started yet but it's not far away - it's hard to believe that all will be back to normal in a couple of weeks as some of the best players in the world return to strut their stuff on green, pristine pitches watched by fans clad in new shirts and sunglasses.
As has become the norm over the past few years in which English clubs and their money have become attractive to a growing array of nationalities and talents, there will be some new but not unfamiliar faces for fans to see; faces that were on our television screens just a few weeks ago.
Tottenham fans are already talking knowingly about how Didier Zakora will fit into their midfield, Arsenal supporters will be screaming at Thomas Rosicky to shoot every time he gets anywhere near the goal and fans of any team facing Chelsea will be shouting the same at Frank Lampard.
Hopefully, these stars, and others like them, will bring with them all that was good about the World Cup to England's shores and leave the less appealing aspects of the competition behind.
The global football fest was interesting rather than exciting. Of course, there was excitement to be had, especially in visiting the fantastic stadiums, mingling with fans from around the world, hanging out at the fan-fests and mixing with the perfect hosts that were the Germans. The games themselves however were not short of drama but did lack enough moments that got bums off seats.
The 2006 competition divided opinions and it is still unclear how it will be remembered - though it is not hard to guess what Brian Glanville will write in his next History of the World Cup. There is a chance however to ensure that despite the negativity and cynicism that was on display in the twelve stadiums around Germany, that the tournament could, in years to come, be remembered fondly for the lessons it taught and the wake-up call it gave.
The competition provided a look ahead into the future of football, a dark vision that would have Michael J. Fox and the mad professor sprinting for the DeLorean. Many games were ruined by diving, cheating, conning and waving imaginary cards in referees' faces. It is not too late to change the course of the game and no time machine is needed, just a common sense and cool-headed approach.
It's going to be tough so let's begin with the easy stuff. An automatic yellow card for any player who tells the referee, whether verbally or with that oh-so-annoying gesture, that he should show an opposition player a card would soon see the end of that practice.
Diving is a darker and bigger stain on the game and will, of course, be harder, if not impossible, to eradicate completely, simply because some people have perfected the dark art. Sometimes even with the benefit of television replays, opinions don't always match but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
It is up to officials and administrators to enforce a no tolerance policy on those who go to ground without contact. It goes without saying that it is often hard to know if a player dived when seeing it in only one time and in real-time, so the men in black or green can get by with a little help from a lens.
Stopping the game to watch television replays to detect dives may be undesirable but there is nothing to stop officials watching videos after the game has finished and issuing retrospective reds and yellows. Divers would be less prone to lie prone if they knew that after the game, their 'Hollywood action' as it is called in Korea, would be scrutinized from a multitude of angles and a multitude of times. The possibility of picking up suspensions could be the stick that FIFA and domestic organizations need.
The people in power seem finally to have realized that this is a problem that will turn people off the game if it continues unabated. Franz Beckenbauer has called for a summit to stop the rot.
'I think it is time to get the players, the coaches and the referees around the table and try to find some sort of solution to this problem.'
The Kaiser is right and even Sepp Blatter, who recently admitted to diving in his 'playing days', seems to agree that something has to be done.
The time is now.
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