Pressure is mounting on Perth Glory after the one-time Australian soccer powerhouse was left flailing at the foot of the A-League tonight.
The Glory were hammered 4-0 by Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome, offering all the resistance of wet tissue paper as the high-flying Victory flushed them into the competition's S-bend and bound for this season's sewer.
Two goals to Danny Allsopp and one each to midfielder Grant Brebner and defender Rodrigo Vargas ensured the Victory will at least have a share of the competition lead by the end of this weekend.
But the Glory face a third successive bottom two finish after an on-field performance as inept as it was soulless - laying bare a team being pillaged at will by A-League attacks and with just one win in seven matches.
Three of the Victory's goals were gift-wrapped by pedestrian defending, goalkeeper Frank Juric was among several players to have personal nightmares, and the Glory could have conceded double figures so bad were they and so on song were the Victory.
Tonight's effort is certain to lead to more speculation about coach David Mitchell's position, amid rumours of player disquiet within the Perth squad.
Appointed around this time last season after his former boss Ron Smith was removed, Mitchell admitted the buck for the Glory's plight stopped with him, but believed he could get the club out of the mire.
"The responsibility stops with me," Mitchell said.
"It's a situation where we will get out of it. We've just got to dig deep, get some confidence back, and get some wins."
Perth defender Jamie Harnwell said the players had to take collective responsibility for the team's dismal position.
"Every player's got to take a long, hard look at themselves and see if they're doing the best can in games and during training as well," Harnwell said.
"The players have got to take a lot of the blame for that. We're out there, we've got to look at ourselves and take a bit of responsibility."
Midfielder Brebner netted the first after 25 minutes - Perth's defence failing to deal with an innocuous cross and the Scotsman slotting home the failed clearance from the edge of the box.
Allsopp made it 2-0 five minutes before halftime, forcing Juric into a save then banging home the rebound.
It should have been 3-0 just before halftime when Juric fumbled another cross into the path of Archie Thompson, whose shot towards an open goal somehow hit teammate Tom Pondeljak and bounced away.
But Melbourne took less than 60 seconds after halftime to net a third, thanks to more unsure defending.
Vargas sneaked between the Glory's defenders and Juric to turn home a free-kick, before Allsopp made it 4-0 in the 71st minute.
Glory had nothing to offer aside from apparent disinterest throughout.
Their best chance for a consolation goal came when substitute Nikita Rukavytsya's shot was brilliantly turned over the bar by young Victory keeper Mitch Langerak late in the second half.
The crowd of just over 18,000 was Victory's lowest A-League attendance in more than two years.
MELBOURNE VICTORY 4 (Grant Brebner 25m, Danny Allsopp 40m, 71m, Rodrigo Vargas 47m) bt PERTH GLORY 0 at Telstra Dome. Referee: Strebre Delovski.