Football's empires are built to crumble.

Not this quickly, though.

Sydney FC might just have set a new world record with their plummet from the top of the A-League perch.

On March 20 , the Sydneysiders won the A-League Grand Final in the competition's first ever penalty shoot out in the decider. Not only that, it was made all the sweeter by doing so behind enemy lines at Etihad Stadium, in the backyard of its fiercest rival, the Melbourne Victory.

It was a golden moment for the club, but this coming of age came and went quicker than Corey Worthington's acting career.

On their return to Etihad, Vitezslav Lavitka's Sky Blues are on the bread line, bottom of the competition and without a win in the current campaign. They've gone from champs to chumps in seven months leaving fans bewildered.

Lavicka's is feeling the pressure as reports emerge that club CEO Edwin Lugt demanded the players attend a boot camp and bonding session at Terrigal on The Central Coast regardless of the coaches reservations.

And if it's to be believed, some of the motivational speeches were delivered to the players by members of Sydney FC's loyal active supporter group The Cove.

I seriously hope they chanted their advice in unison through a loud hailer and completed their performance with synchronized handclapping and a gratuitous reference to the keeper being a fat bastard before twirling their scarves in the air and jumping up and down on the spot like demented beanbags.

Seriously, if the club really did ask the fans to fire up the players ahead of its most important fixture of the year it may as well get the first five guys in rows 1-5 at the Cove end of the SFS to pull on the boots and have a crack at Melbourne Victory this weekend themselves.

Professional footballers shouldn't be told why the need to do their job properly - or how to do it- by the people who pay to watch them anymore than a pilot needs to hear how to fly a plane from the guy who's just stashed his tray table and is spilling his beer over you as he adjust his seat belt in row 26.

Mind you, not that Ernie Merrick's Victory is travelling that much better.

They were taken apart by an exuberant Melbourne Heart last Friday night in the A-League's first big city derby match and with just thetwo2 wins from 10 starts their one paced, toothless game plan has been found wanting.

Ernie, where are the strikers?

Robbie Kruse? He's quick and ready to have a dip; you got to give him credit for that. He took his goal well against Heart from yet another sneaky Muscat free kick that caught a team with its dacks down but he's built like Kate Moss and simply doesn't have the physicality to match his skill and desire to be the go to guy upfront.

Ricardinho?

If anyone needed the wings more than this bloke he'd be in an aviary.

At the moment he's trying to play off the shoulder of the last defender as Victory labour through midfield like a pensioner hauling a week's worth of groceries into the face of a stiff wind. When given the chance to get chalk on his boots out wide he has offered something. Right now he looks lost.

One goal in four games for Victory says it all. The numbers don't lie. As they don't for Sydney FC.

Neither team can afford a draw from Saturday's encounter if they're any chance of having a meaningful summer.

It's all on the line again at Etihad Stadium for these two this weekend.

Except this time the prize isn't title.

It's mere survival.