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Where did it all go wrong for Melbourne City?
Their utter domination, which at times almost bordered on bullying, over cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory earlier in the season looked to have signalled a shift in the power base in the Victorian capital.
Finally, at long last, it seemed as though City might live up to the hype.
A first piece of silverware followed shortly after, courtesy of a 1-0 win over Sydney FC in the FFA Cup final. This was a new City, with a new attitude.
Or so we thought.
Compared to last season, they’ve actually gone backwards. With just two regular-season matches remaining, City have just ten wins from 25 matches and sit in fourth spot, a whopping 26 points off ladder-leaders Sydney.
At this stage last season, they topped the table with 13 wins, looked on track for the Premiers Plate, and were one of the favourites to take out the grand final.
Further investment in the off-season, with the likes of Tim Cahill, Nicholas Colazo, Michael Jakobsen, Bruce Kamau, Fernando Brandan, Neil Kilkenny, and Luke Brattan all signing on meant this City side – the most expensive ever assembled in the A-League – contained serious talent.
There is a reason they were every pundit’s favourite to lift the ‘toilet seat’ come the end of the season.
Throw in the re-signing of Bruno Fornaroli, they had all the ingredients to do what Sydney FC has done and take all before them.
And in the first month of the season, that’s what it looked like they’d do.
They were swashbuckling in attack and while still prone to the odd defensive lapse, they looked like a side that would be in contention for trophies come the back end of the season.
How wrong we were. That fearsome display against Victory in Round 2 was as good as it got.
Injuries have hurt; missing Colazo for an extended period at the start of the season curtailed them early, while Jakobsen’s absence in the second half stung more than it should have.
Then there was the loss of coach John van’t Schip during the season for personal reasons. If interim coach Michael Valkanis wants the job full-time, he’s hardly grasped the opportunity with both hands.
But for a squad of this quality, they are merely excuses. Every team will have their share of injuries throughout a 27-game season; it’s how they deal with it that determines the contenders from the pretenders. City simply has to be better if they want to be up there with the best.
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The goal for City now has to be finishing in third position, and with it a likely spot in the AFC Champions League for 2018, albeit one that would see them have to go through the playoffs. That is the bare minimum they would have accepted back in October and it would at least give them something to take from what has been a disappointing season.
Of course, the A-League being what it is with its finals system, City could still win the title by putting together a string of results in the finals. But truth be told, they don’t deserve it. No one aside from Sydney FC really does, and it would be an injustice should the Sky Blues – that’s the Sydney version, not the Melbourne one – not win their third title come the first Sunday in May.
Which leaves City, whose first port of call in the off-season must be quickly signing a new coach, in the familiar position of looking ahead to next season.
Patience at City Football Group HQ in Manchester must be starting to wear thin. Now in their third season under CFG ownership, this was meant to be the one where they buried the ghosts of their mediocrity-ridden Heart past and emerged as a fearsome and successful new outlet, ready to not only take on the big boys, but to join them.
It seems, however, the more things change, the more they stay the same.