A frustrated Vitezslav Lavicka concedes his future as coach of Sydney FC may be on shaky ground as a result of the club's disastrous start to the A-League season.
The reigning champions' season is officially in crisis after their 1-1 draw with North Queensland Fury on Wednesday night made it eight games without a win this campaign.
Just six months after their dramatic grand final win, the Sky Blues are currently the basement boys of the league, with a clash against undefeated leaders Adelaide United next up on Monday.
While there is still more than two thirds of the season to play, Sydney are fast running out of time to make a decent fist of their title defence and are a hefty seven points adrift of the top six.
Lavicka won the double in his first season and is well respected by everyone at the club and it would be highly unlikely for the board to terminate his contract.
But even the likable Czech coach admits the heat is on him.
"I'm frustrated from the results, every coach must be frustrated and must be worried about his job if good results don't come...they're not coming," Lavicka said when asked if he was feeling any pressure over his future.
"As I told you after the last game I have full responsibility for the team."
"I trust the team but in this moment we need to win a game."
"I believe we are able to start (winning) and climbing a bit higher than now."
Sydney looked headed for a much-needed win against the Fury after defender Shannon Cole's stunning volley eight minutes before half-time gave them a well-deserved lead at a rain-soaked SFS.
But as has been the case for most of the season, the Sky Blues failed to kill off the match while they were on top and paid the price 15 minutes from time when David Williams equalised.
Lavicka admitted his team has forgotten how to win.
"Everything is about confidence and is in their minds," the Sydney boss said.
"We have players that are good players on the park, they train well and have good quality but without a strong mentality you have a small chance to be successful."
"We've forgotten how to win this season but I hope we can change it soon."
Sydney goal hero Cole added: "Momentum is a big thing in sport, a couple of mistakes here and there, a couple of second balls go their way and it changes the game."
"We can't feel sorry for ourselves, no one's going to feel sorry for us. We've just got to get on with it."
Fury coach Franz Straka praised his side's fighting capabilities after a poor first half display.
"It's always special to have a game against the champions and we knew it would be a difficult game," he said.
"I was not so happy after first half and we made too many mistakes."
"But in the second half it was much better, we were more confident and more believing and it led to good result. We're happy with a point."