End is nigh for a season to forget

The Wellington Phoenix don’t have a lot to play for tonight, when they host Melbourne City, but will be comforted by the fact that come the end of 90 minutes, their dreadful 2017-18 A-League campaign will be done and dusted.

No matter what happens at QBE Stadium in Auckland, they will finish with the fewest wins in their 11-season history, whether joint or outright. They will finish with the most losses, whether joint or outright. They will finish having conceded more goals per game than ever before, whether joint or outright. They will have earned fewer points per game than ever before.

Only the failings of the Central Coast Mariners across the Tasman might allow them some solace - a Phoenix win and a Mariners loss later tonight will mean the Wellington club finishes ninth, avoiding the wooden spoon. They can also avoid having scored fewer goals per game than ever before, if they net just once.

This has been the club’s worst season. ‘‘One to forget,’’ as interim coach Chris Greenacre put it on Friday, preparing for the end of his third stint as a caretaker, in one form or another.

It was only a year ago that he was in the same place, assisting Des Buckingham, as they wrapped up a 19-game stint where they had the team producing results that would have earned them a playoff spot, had that been the length of the season.

Buckingham then made his case to stay on - Greenacre didn’t, and still doesn’t, have the qualifications to be an A-League head coach - but the club went with Darije Kalezic instead - a risky appointment if there ever was one.

After Kalezic left, there have been improved performances since Greenacre took charge five games ago, but they haven’t translated into wins, just a draw and four losses.

Still, when the final whistle goes around 9.30pm, captain Andrew Durante, Greenacre and the rest of the team will be able to forget about the past seven months.

But there will be plenty for the club to be going on with, including the search for a new head coach, with the position vacant now for 43 days; decisions on the 14 players coming off contract; and the renewal of their quest for improvement in those key metrics - crowd size, membership base, and TV ratings - that will determine whether their licence to play in the A-League is extended in two years’ time.