Politely put this could only be a worthwhile season for Elfsborg if it is marked as transition and put away in a box. Because Jimmy Thelin's first season in charge of the Boras club was in truth one big mess, where they were nowhere near the standards set in previous seasons. They were in fact even worse than they were last season, and were surely only given a relegation reprieve because of the poor quality of the teams involved in the bottom three.
They finished the season with one win out of their last seven fixtures, which to be fair was an improvement on how they started the season with one win in the first nine games. In between those two dreadful runs was a string of disappointments and they were extremely inconsistent throughout the 30 games played. The way they threw away a lead against Brommapojkarna late in the season, giving their visitors a priceless 2-1 win, would've gone down extremely well in Dalkurd, who as a result of that slipped into the bottom two and were relegated. Elfsborg were unreliable and Thelin will be fortunate if he gets a second stab at the job in 2019.
Elfsborg must surely have more ambition than what was on show this season, and the players are there for this to be a decent squad that should be fighting for a top half finish at the very least. With very little to cheer about Simon Lundevall was probably the only real bright spark, with the midfielder netting five of only 29 goals socred this season. Change is needed, whether in personnel or direction, but the 2018 campaign will be one the club dare not repeat.
