The Sky Blues’ chances of A-League success this season were dealt a big blow when a number of high-profile imports left the club in the off-season.

Not only were A-League Golden Boot Bobo and Johnny Warren Medallist Adrian Mierzejewski sold to clubs in Turkey and China respectively but Jordy Buijs also departed for a new club Japan.

In their place Sydney brought Dutch forward Siem de Jong as their new marquee man along with English striker Adam Le Fondre and Dutch defender Jop van der Linden.

Together with Daniel de Silva and Trent Buhagiar as the big-name local recruits, the Sky Blues CEO is sure the club can maintain its recent form.

“We are very confident,” Townsend said.

“A club like ours always sets high standards and we go into this season with as much confidence as we have in the previous one.

“We have a mantra at our club that we always improve when we cycle players out of our roster and bring new ones in.

“We ask ourselves are we improving the position? Are improving the squad?

“And so far with the changes we have made we can put our hand on our heart and say yes we have.

Looking back on last season Townsend is still smarting from the fact that the Sky Blues went so close yet so far.

Especially after bitter rivals and eventual A-League champions Melbourne Victory beat them in a memorable semi-final.

“On balance we had a great season”, he said.

“We put the FFA Cup in the cabinet and won back to back premierships. Those two results themselves is something we should all be proud of.

“At the end we fell a bit short and as a CEO you look at why that may have been the case and you try and ensure that those things don’t happen again.

“But at the end of the day the guys did a great job, the coaching staff, players could not have done anymore and came to the last kick of the game in a semi-final and it just wasn’t to be."

Despite the many changes that are occurring such as the stadium move, a new coach and key players leaving, Townsend isn’t concerned that too much change is going to disrupt the season.

“There are a lot of factors that come into play,” he said.

“You need the right preparation, the right pre-season, you need to stay injury free and we work hard with our medical department, so we are always very confident.

“While we are very happy with how the season went in balance, with the changes ahead and the stadium redevelopment, as well as other things like our centre of excellence that we are looking to build, there is a lot going on outside football that occupies a lot of my time.

“But equally you don’t want to lose focus of what’s most important and that is our fans and that is being successful on the field - it is a balance.”