“ULTIMATELY it’s our responsibility and therefore please take the apologies of Edin and me.

“We will work hard to come out of this situation over the next months. I think we have learned our lesson.”

The words of Stefan Rupp at last week’s player-of-the-year dinner at Valley Parade.

A fun occasion but lacking that glint of 12 months earlier. But then that was to be expected given what has happened since January.

But it could prove to be a line-in-the-sand moment. At least every City fan will be hoping so.

It was the first time either of the owners had held their hand up publicly for any shortcomings.

Whether lessons really have been taken on board will become more apparent over the coming months that Rupp and Edin Rahic know are crucial.

Words are cheap if not followed by actions and a jaundiced supporter base wants evidence that the same mistakes will not be repeated. But an admission in front of 500 fans was at least a start.

Entering summer in a state of flux is almost par for the course with City. But having seen the upward momentum of the previous five years dissolve to dust in less than five months, the next steps have got to be right.

The growing disconnect within the club will not heal quickly. There has been too much disappointment and let-down after a season that had promised so much only to disappear down the plughole just after the mid-point.

You’ve seen teams at the top implode before; think Gillingham and Coventry in recent years. City’s fall from grace was as dramatic as any of them.

The line was trotted out so often that it became a cliché. But as the final whistle sounded at Fleetwood on New Year’s Day, the Bantams had more points than at the same stage 12 months earlier.

They had come from behind to clinch away win number nine – a record only bettered in the entire country by Manchester City at that time – while building a seven-point buffer within the play-off places.

Fast forward to referee John Busby ending league proceedings at Scunthorpe on Saturday and City had collected a mere 15 more from 20 attempts.

In the division’s form stakes, only relegated MK Dons came close to such a dismal return during that time.

The fact that the play-off “dream”, or illusion as it should be more realistically described, lasted to the penultimate weekend was more down to others missing opportunities than any kind of spurt for the line.

The four unbeaten games after the almighty low of Blackpool restored a chink of pride but could not hope to recover the ground that had been conceded during the months of free-fall.

The once-proud away record remained at nine wins – with just three more draws to add from ten subsequent trips.

At home, things did improve marginally during Simon Grayson’s watch. But City still finished with ten defeats at Valley Parade – the first time that has happened since the Peter Taylor/Jackson season of 2010/11 when they were scrabbling to stay in the league itself.

From a team that had gone the entire previous campaign unbeaten on their own patch, that is some turnaround.

Having lost warriors like Rory McArdle and James Meredith and a match-winner in Mark Marshall, improving on last year’s Wembley near-miss was always going to be a tall order.

The summer recruitment, while splashing out genuine transfer fees, went more for potential than proven and did not pay off.

Dominic Poleon faded after a promising start, Shay McCartan showed flashes but nowhere near the impact that he had made with Accrington, and Jake Reeves, whose stamina to play every minute of the previous season had attracted City’s interest, pulled up with a groin issue that stopped him in his tracks halfway through.

Paul Taylor was the wild-card pick and conjured up some of the most memorable moments with his eye for a spectacular goal. It was a shame to see him leave as he did and we hope he can win the battle with any personal demons.

But there was a feeling from the off that Stuart McCall’s squad for his second season lacked the depth of the first.

Even when they were grinding out results at Portsmouth, Shrewsbury and Southend, or stunning Wigan with a last-gasp victory that had home boss Paul Cook waiting on the touchline to shake every City player’s hand.

The worry was that they did not have the dependable resources to cope with a few absentees. There was no Stephen Darby on the bench or even a Nathan Clarke.

But it was the shortcomings in the goalkeeper department that would ram home that message.

When Colin Doyle was forced off at half-time against Scunthorpe in mid-November, it triggered the domino effect.

Rouven Sattelmaier kept a clean sheet four days later at Shrewsbury. But it would be the last time City stopped anyone from scoring for another four months.

Sattelmaier was exposed by the dreadful goal he conceded at Wimbledon two days before Christmas. Lukas Raeder was equally to blame at home to Northampton during the January slump that would cost McCall his job.

Having gone a season-and-a-half without losing two games on the bounce, a run of five following the fateful FA Cup exit at Yeovil saw the axe fall in the first week of February.

McCall’s hopes for the promised cavalry arriving in the transfer window had never materialised. A list of targets were missed.

Rupp denied there was any “hidden agenda” waiting for him to fail. The owners felt they had no choice other than to sack him as “the risk was too high to do nothing”.

Grayson, a manager with an enviable promotion record at League One level, was parachuted in – turning down the club’s longer-term offer for a deal that amounted to just 14 games. Plus the play-offs – at least that was the plan.

But after fighting back for a worthy point at Charlton in his first game, with a team picked by Greg Abbott and Kenny Black, there was no evidence of a new manager “bounce”.

His pragmatic approach with a bunch of players with little confidence could not find the short, sharp shock needed to bring City’s comatose campaign back to life.

Now his future heads a long agenda to shape how the club will look to recover.

A decision on Grayson is imminent.

Given the sensitive timescale, it would be surprising if a back-up list of potential replacements has not already been drawn up.

Should Grayson opt to move on, Rahic and Rupp face the choice of whether to go with experienced again or up-and-coming but untried.

Someone like Darren Moore with his City popularity, current success in temporary charge of West Brom and the strong grounding and contacts with young players that the owners are so keen to push, would surely be worth a shout.

Or would they look to Germany to bring in their next coach? A decision that is unlikely to play well with the fans.

The falling season-ticket numbers is a warning that interest is on the wane. City supporters need to be excited about their club again.

Contrary to the rallying slogan, very few seem to believe.

There are some big calls to be made. And then we will find out if those lessons have been learned.