Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar has apologised for his part in the Reds' cellar-dweller form but still believes his side has the 'quality' to reach the A-League finals.
United, which has been on the slide since Round 12, finally dropped to eighth spot after losing 2-1 to North Queensland last weekend. It's the first time they've been at the foot of the ladder in their six-year history.
Vidmar, who sat in the stands as part of a two-week suspension, said the team's current situation was 'embarrassing' and 'well below expectations'.
"I need to take full responsibility for that so it's just unacceptable, we understand that and I need to give a big apology to the fans, to the members to everyone involved, it's just not good enough," he said.
"I take full responsibility because I'm senior coach and that comes with the territory so I've made some mistakes. What I've done is any decision I've made is done for the best interest of the club and the team and sometimes I get things right and sometimes I don't."
Vidmar felt his suspension, which continues against Newcastle at Hindmarsh this Friday, had played a part in unsettling the side.
"I think a senior coach should be very close to the players, as close as possible and by being up in the stands you feel very distant," he said.
But while the Reds are feeling red-faced, Vidmar said they hadn't given up on getting something out of the season.
"What we need to do is get ourselves off the bottom, very, very quickly. I certainly believe in the group, I certainly believe we have the quality to be in the top six so now we are just concentrating and doing everything we possibly can to make sure we get there," he said.
"Hopefully we can play a nice brand of attacking football but more importantly it's about winning."
Vidmar said his players had displayed a positive approach over the past couple of months but now needed to harness some 'controlled anger and aggression' in order to get their season back on track.
And he said a united front would ensure the team remained competitive.
"It's about really going out there now and making sure we stick together and that was certainly spoke about after the North Queensland game, that we do stick together, we don't fracture."