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For the past few years, Sale Sharks have been a beacon of consistency in The Prem.
No other side can match their record of finishing in the top four in each of the past three seasons.
There were two semi-final losses and a Prem final defeat to Saracens as winning the title proved elusive, but the Sharks were there in the big games at the business end of the regular and post-season.
This campaign is not even at the end of January – and only one game past halfway in the league – and Sale’s play-off hopes are all but over.
Saturday’s chaotic 43-29 loss to Northampton Saints was a seventh in 10 games and left them in seventh place, 16 points adrift of the top four with eight matches to go.
“Realistically, that’s us done for the play-offs, but not the season,” said director of rugby Alex Sanderson.
Last season, 58 points were needed to finish in the top four. By that metric, the Sharks would need 38 from their final eight games, which feels almost impossible.
In the previous three seasons, Sale had only lost three Prem fixtures at the CorpAcq Stadium. Nobody has fancied it under the arch of the M60 motorway.
But Northampton became the second side to win here this season after Exeter Chiefs before Christmas to weaken the foundations of their home fortress.
However, Sale are still in the European Champions Cup and will fancy their chances of winning at Harlequins in their last-16 tie in April, while greater importance will now be placed on making progress in the Prem Rugby Cup in the next few weeks.
And for Sanderson, what has happened this season in the league is just a blip rather than anything more deep rooted.
“This is not a club in freefall,” he said. “It’s not a team that is pointing fingers. The wheels certainly haven’t fallen off, they just need tightening up.
“No one is fooling themselves out there. We all realise that we have got ways to go if we want to be back up there in finals at the end of the year.
“We’ve got the support of the owner. Michelle (Orange) was the first to give us a cuddle on the sidelines. There is a very strong foundation to build on.
“I’m miserable, gutted that we’ve lost and gutted that our aspirations of getting to a final are gone. But I’ll deal with that and I’ll be good again on Monday.”
