AS Worcester Warriors’ season tailed off into oblivion, the sense of frustration — and in many cases anger — emanating from the club’s fans gradually grew from a few grumbles to a cacophony of furious ranting.

It is nigh on impossible to find a supporter who is happy with the way things have panned out at Sixways and many are questioning whether they will continue their financial support of the club by buying a season ticket for next term.

While it is difficult to argue with them, especially after the beleaguered club managed just one win in the second half of their Aviva Premiership campaign, it is important for the loyal fans to keep the faith.

Although the fare served up on the pitch has been disjointed and disappointing, at least the club’s hierarchy have taken steps to arrest the slump — they could easily have kept their head in the sand and backed Richard Hill for another season.

Dean Richards’ Newcastle have blazed a trail in the Championship this season and, should they pick their way through the play-off minefield — starting with a semi-final against Leeds today — you would imagine they would be capable of holding their own in the top-flight next term.

Before blotting his copybook with the ‘Bloodgate’ affair at Harlequins, Richards was a well-respected coach and the Falcons, should they go up, will be much better resourced than London Welsh, while they will also not have their hands tied by a legal battle just to secure their place in the Premiership.

This year’s strugglers Sale Sharks and London Irish both picked up as the season wore on and, thanks to Warriors’ tame defeat to London Welsh on Saturday, climbed above the Sixways side in the final standings.

Therefore, if Worcester’s 2013-14 campaign is again allowed to tail off as alarmingly as this one has, then there will be no safety net to get them out of jail and the prospect of a second drop into the Championship would be a daunting reality.

However, in appointing Dean Ryan, the Sixways board of directors have opted for a marked change of approach by replacing the affable Hill with a no-nonsense director of rugby, who will not tolerate anything less than 100 per cent from his players.

Matt Kvesic will be a huge loss to Warriors, while the club were also keen to retain the services of Matt Mullan, despite the loosehead failing to hit the heights of the pre-injury stages of his career.

The decision not to offer Andy Goode a new deal always divides opinion, but the truth is he wouldn’t have been cheap to keep on board and the call was made to look elsewhere.

For what it’s worth, I think the squad will be stronger next term and the likes of Agustin Creevy and Paul Warwick could make the difference between kicking on and rumbling around the relegation zone.