Portsmouth finished just five points off the final play-off spot in League One, but it may as well have been twenty for all the good it does.
Getting close and falling away isn't something you win a prize for, it may leave fans hoping for more in the following season, but little comfort can be gleaned for being an also-ran, a nearly-team.
This season they'll be hoping the goal scoring exploits of Brett Pitman can be accompanied by a few from Jamal Lowe or maybe Oliver Hawkins, but at the back a resolute defence can prevent too many being conceded.
Last season, Pompey conceded 56 goals, just one fewer than fifth from bottom Rochdale.
They also drew six games, five fewer than Plymouth in seventh.
Had they converted six of their defeats to draws, they would have finished inside the top six. Goals conceded did for them last time out, but curiously they don't play an attacking formation.
The first-choice striker, Brett Pitman, scored 24 goals for Pompey in a 4-2-3-1 last season. That line up should afford the back four some protection, as well as allow the centre forward first crack at the goals. The latter part clearly worked, but across the back something went wrong.
What it does mean is that any race for a starting place up front is futile. Pitman was in electric form and is unlikely to be ousted any time soon, whilst Pompey are not likely to go more attacking, even though they scored fewer goals than relegated Oldham.
If they do remain 4-2-3-1 then the unlucky man is likely to be 21-year old Conor Chaplin, a target for Coventry City.
Pompey turned down a £250,000 bid for him this week, but any increased bid is likely to be tough to resist.
With Lowe and Hawkins waiting in the wings should they be needed, the youth team product is finding chances increasingly hard to come by.
He scored five in 32 outings last season, taking his Pompey career total to 22 from just 39 starts. However, he's been seen an additional 73 times from the bench, used as an impact player rather than a first team regular.
Now, with Marc McNulty off to Reading, the chance has arisen for potential first team football.
Coventry won't spend £250,000 on a reserve striker and he could be guaranteed a start alongside Jonson Clarke-Harris up front.
Portsmouth might well want to hold on to him, but that could be more difficult than it sounds.
What is ironic is their strategy in recent years has been to pluck talent from the non league scene and develop them, but they're close to losing one promising talent they've grown themselves through a lack of options.
Whilst any sale wouldn't appear to damage Pompey on the face of things, they do need to either score more or concede less if they're going to mount a play-off push once more and they won't do that by selling off their home-grown talent due to lack of opportunities.
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