So it’s all over.

2012/2013 may have averaged our highest ever crowd numbers – 18,637 fans per home game to be precise - but on the park the season has been a miserable failure. Sydney’s display at Suncorp encapsulates the past six months, as does missing the Top 6 on goal difference.

We have leaked more than 50 goals in 27 games, almost two per match. In our last winning season, back in 2010, we conceded 30 goals in 31 starts. The last two seasons that number has steadily risen to 40 and then 45. This season it’s an obscene 51. We have comfortably outscored all previous Sydney teams and most of our competitors this season, putting away 45 goals, but all that has counted for nought when we have had a backline with more holes than Swiss cheese.

A profound lack of concentration on set pieces. Passes to the opposition. Watching the ball and not the man. Rash challenges in the box.

We’ve done it all.

Del Piero and Ryall’s errors at Suncorp were only the latest in a litany of this season’s defensive calamities. Once again we did quite well in attack but it was at the back that we lost it on the night, reflective of the entire season. Wholesale changes in backline personnel must be made, but more on that in future weeks.

Brisbane purred their way to victory, the ball gliding all over the park like a Ferrari straight out of the showroom. And without the ball they pressured the visitors who, for the first hour, had few answers. Great goal by Franjic too, who must have felt a measure of revenge after being taken to the cleaners by the Italian master in February.

We looked a threat on almost every set piece and may well have scored on more than one occasion. But you make your own luck, and the home side deserved any fortune that came their way.

Our passing game finally came together in the last twenty minutes. Not coincidentally, Terry Antonis was now operating through the middle and most good things came through him. The question of why Antonis did not start there must surely be asked once again. His best displays the last few weeks have been when Frank Farina has given him opportunities to move infield.

Solid in the tackle, possessing great stamina, technique and passing game and a threat going forward, one would have thought Antonis ticked every central midfield box there was to tick.

If this was his final game for the Sky Blues, he signed off in style. When Antonis is starring in the middle of the park in Europe and for the Socceroos, people may well look back on his time at Sydney FC and ask, “Didn’t Farina play him on this wing?” Howls of derision will follow.

So, two stupid goals and a barnstorming but ultimately fruitless finish.

And there we have it, our season in a nutshell.

It goes without saying that the competition’s credibility would have been enhanced tenfold had all games kicked off simultaneously. With only five matches to be played, Multiview would have allowed fans to watch “their” game whilst keeping an eye on the table. Would Wanderers clinch it in Newcastle? Which of Sydney, Perth, Brisbane or the Jets would make the Top 6? Could Adelaide leapfrog Victory into third spot? And could the Mariners achieve an unlikely premiership?

Instead, cliffhangers were kept to a minimum. Arnie finished second on the table so rested his injured players, giving a runout to “squaddies” Fitzgerald, Caceres, McDonald and Griffiths. Ange Postecoglou could play his lesser lights in the full knowledge that third spot was assured prior to an anti-climactic kickoff.

And the race for fifth and sixth spots, one that went down to the wire, could have been so much more nail-biting with each of the four candidates believing that only a win would get them there. To their credit, all four played to win regardless, but it goes without saying that all final season round matches must kick off simultaneously to keep excitement high and give all teams an equal chance . It’s a no-brainer. FFA, make it happen!

Finally, congratulations to the Wanderers for a successful inaugural season. They have done well and kudos to them. Given that they were barely a twinkle in Frank Lowy’s eye 12 months ago, to have achieved as much as they have is a credit to the FFA, Lyall Gorman and Tony Popovic, who has guided them to success in record time. Well done, and I look forward to many years of rivalry ahead. One word of advice though – don’t get ahead of yourselves.

I have enjoyed bringing my views to an audience greater than merely the bent ears of friends, clubmates and family. I have never asked for complete agreement nor made an attempt at total, season-long objectivity. I am a Sydney fan and see things through Sky Blue glasses.

Long before Barlow there was Lapaglia.

Long before Del Piero there was Yorke.

Long before Farina there was Litti.

From Carney to Corica to Carle to Antonis, talented players have come and gone. At times we’ve played appallingly. At times, with great beauty and poise. Toilet seats have given way to seasons of despair.

But a fan’s love for his club is constant. It isn’t affected by results, playing style, the signing of a marquee player or dirty mudflaps. Your club is for life, not just for Christmas.

Frequently, off-season is the best part. The time when reality gives way to dreams. When the next signing is one who will make all the difference. When we wallop State League teams in August and dream that could be the real thing.

The A-League is still going but for the Sydney fan it’s over until October. So, in coming weeks I will be reviewing the season from a Sky Blue perspective. I will discuss players, tactics and potential signings, as well as offering Farina some free advice. Heck, everyone else is, why shouldn't I?

As I said, the off-season is the best part. A time when we can put a line under last season, look ahead and say, “Next season is ours”.