IF FURTHER evidence is required that York City's players under-achieved in 2004-2005 then take a glance at the team's performances against fellow Conference clubs at both ends of the final table.

While the Minstermen averaged a point a game against the top five sides, they only managed to claim two victories over the bottom five clubs.

Those triumphs are also tainted, as they came against outfits so desperate in Leigh RMI and Farnborough that a York Senior League representative XI would have fancied their chances.

While not suggesting last season's City side had the ability to be genuine promotion contenders, it is hard to understand why a team capable of beating top two Barnet and Carlisle, as well as taking four points off fifth-placed, play-off side Stevenage Borough, were incapable of matching that level of performance on a game-by-game basis and making the best of their limited abilities.

The Minstermen also defeated sixth-placed Exeter and seventh-placed Morecambe adding further fuel to the debate.

All three managers employed by City during the course of the season, however, never enjoyed a sustained run of the form hinted at and hoped for by the team's surprise results against highly-placed opponents.

Chris Brass only managed a three-match unbeaten sequence while Viv Busby and Billy McEwan never went more than two games before tasting defeat.

Typical of the season was the two highly-encouraging back-to-back victories achieved against Barnet and Exeter under McEwan being followed by a depressing, nine-match win-less run, which was the worst of a dismal campaign.

A glance at our graphic (right) shows that all three managers achieved remarkably similar results with the players at their disposal, begging the question that could anyone, even Jose Mourinho, have done better.

Perhaps the men in charge were over-achieving with a side that carried little goal threat, looked vulnerable to pace at the back and lacked midfield creativity and natural width unless Bryan Stewart was in the side.

Brass, of course, is more culpable than his two successors having assembled the squad last summer but the passionate defender will be as disappointed as anybody by players such as Paul D Robinson, Shaun Smith, Paul Crichton, Chris Clarke and, to a lesser extent, Steve Davis, who arrived at Bootham Crescent with big reputations but failed to make telling contributions.

City's next crop of players will need to be more eager to express themselves and have confidence in their ability to produce match-winning performances on a consistent basis.

Commitment to the cause will also be needed as Minstermen supporters hope that they will never again have to sing 2004-2005's all too frequent theme tune of "You're not fit to Wear the Shirt".

Updated: 11:09 Tuesday, April 26, 2005