Outgoing coach Carl Veart believes Adelaide United announcing his departure during the season proved the "final straw" for a drained and distracted playing group.
United's finals hopes barely have a pulse, with the Reds requiring Sydney FC to lose their final two games in order for them to make finals.
Adelaide enjoyed a red-hot start to the season but then dropped off dramatically and on April 10, amid a seven-game winless run, the club announced it would not be extending Veart's contract.
It means Saturday night's 0-0 draw with Melbourne City was likely Veart's final game at the helm.
When asked how Adelaide had dropped off so dramatically, Veart said: "There was a few things that have gone on behind the scenes that have distracted the players.
"And in the end, I suppose, it didn't help with some of the things that did happen.
"And you can only have to look at the performance of the players, how they dropped off.
"I know the reasons why, and maybe one day they'll come out."
Veart was pressed on whether the announcement of his departure when Adelaide were still very much in the finals mix had made things worse.
"I think that was the final straw for the playing group," Veart said.
"And you can see that they're quite emotionally drained. It's been a tough couple of months for them.
"Tonight I thought they dug deep and fought and gave everything for possibly two of the older players (Isaias and Javi Lopez) that might be moving on."
Veart urged the club to continue to back young players and surround them with more experienced heads and better resources.
"It's just a matter of putting more resources around those players," he said.
"And that's something that the club have to look at, improving the resources.
"Because we haven't done anything in my whole time there with the training ground or anything like that."
Veart has been instrumental in bringing through top South Australian players like Nestory Irankunda, Joe Gauci, Kusini Yengi and Mohamed and Musa Toure.
"I'm proud of what I've achieved with the club, providing a lot of debuts to a lot of young players, a lot of young South Australian players as well," Veart said.
"And just to play some attacking football right through.
'We've had some difficulties over that, over the course, but I'm happy for where I'm leaving the club.
"I think I'll be leaving the club in a good space, and hopefully they can push on next season."
He indicated he wasn't lost to coaching just yet, either.
"Look, I don't want to give up coaching. I want to keep coaching," he said.
"I mean, I think I've still got something to offer the game. Where that takes me, who knows?
"But I'll definitely be looking to stay involved in a coaching capacity."
