THERE'S no denying the last month for United has been a shocker.

No wins from four games and crowds dipping below 5,000 make for bad reading for any supporters; all the more so when you've been promised the world by an over-ambitious owner and coach.

Already, scoffing Sydney and Melbourne fans are writing off the challenge of the new club. Like the pace-setter at the Melbourne Cup who gallops away for the first 500m only to disappoint uninformed sweeps players Australia over by finishing second last and just missing out on the booby prize, GC Utd look set to fade away into mid-table obscurity.

But things might not be quite so dire on the glitter strip just yet. The quick (and appropriate for an amateur blogger) amount of research shows the all-conquering Melbourne side lost three games in a row last season; all to teams that failed to make the finals. The season before, Newcastle's November brought only two goals, two draws and two losses from four games before breaking their drought against the Roar. To make matters worse three of those four games were at home. Both teams, of course, went on to be champions.

A bad run, then, is by no means the end of a title challenge; particularly not at this time of season when clubs are still finding their feet and feeling out the competition. It would be foolish to write off any of the 10 A-League clubs so early on in the piece. Even poor old North Queensland have been able to put together a few near-wins in a row and can quietly hope for a top nine finish. Perth won back-to-back road games and found themselves on top of the table. In such a tight competition the landscape can completely change in a matter of days, let along weeks.

The real on-field worry for United has been the lack of flair and fight in the four game winless streak. The team roused itself for the second half against Perth, and then drifted in and out after going down to 10 men against Melbourne. As for the Mariners and Phoenix matches, well, I've seen German engineers with more flair.

Any sportsperson will tell you, though, that one bad performance can often precipitate another. A bad performance affects confidence and that all-powerful factor referred to as momentum and suddenly winning matches is harder than- well- picking up if you are a German engineer. Between a lack of support on the terraces, minds on upcoming internationals against Bahrain or Holland and the preceding lack of form and a change in momentum is clearly going to take a lot of effort for the team.

Which brings into question the matter of leadership. Where, United fans must be wondering, will the turnaround come from? We've had young full-back Adama Traore spruiking a turnaround in the media, but the onus for change ultimately must fall upon the coach Miron Bleiberg and the captain Jason Culina.

This is where things get interesting for United. Roar fans have been reminding us since the Gold Coast club was formed of the horror eight game streak that ultimately led to Bleiberg's dismissal from their club. His ability to lead the team back onto the right track might be questioned for that reason.

Culina's penchant for getting stuck into teammates who don't live up to his standards might be what they've deserved after some of the matches of late, but I'm sure it wears thin with them at times. Perhaps he needs to be more careful in choosing his moments for criticism.

Ultimately, Gold Coast fans shouldn't be too worried. The club is still very much in the thick of things at the top of the table, and the early season performances remain amongst the best seen in the A-League this season. All 10 teams will have bad runs throughout the 27 matches, and it will probably only take one good performance to shake the September blues and we'll see Smeltz, Culina, Porter and co. back to their brilliant best.

We'd all love for that to be against Roar this weekend, and if things work out that might even be enough to put the club back on top of the table! Football really is a funny old game, you need to take it one week at a time and pull in the right direction and... Ok enough clichés; I'm beginning to sound as interesting as a German engineer.