There is little to be gained by dwelling on the poor performance which ended in the two goal defeat. Enough to say that we came close to reaching the top six for what would have been the fourth time in nine attempts. Our average has been one upper half finish every three years.
The manager is already talking of the five remaining games and how that will shape the preparations for next season.
On the official site he said, "I'm not prepared to wait until the start of next season because there are going to be changes, if necessary, and that includes these last five games. Anyone who doesn't want to be part of it can tell me now and move on. Every single one of them has the opportunity to be with us next season but they have to show me over the next five games that they want to be here."
McGhee is correct in that the thinking for next season has to start now. We are bound to lose some important players and the financial outlook looks bleak. Crowds will dip for the last two home games, season ticket sales will probably suffer a rebound from this year's UEFA Cup fuelled level and the rebuilding of the pitch is reported to cost in excess of £200,000.
At this stage it would be comforting to list a stream of young players who are bursting through the youth ranks. Alas, it seems that there is no Faddy MkII waiting in the wings. We'll need to rely on the manager's little black book.
In seasons gone by we have been embroiled in struggles to avoid relegation so our latest failure to finish on the better side of the top six cut can hardly be viewed as a disaster. The club has suffered setbacks much worse than this and we'll do so again but these experiences just make the good times even more special.