Nobody said it was going to be easy.
A season of potential and promise turned into one of frustration for Town and their fans.
Now it’s time to build on the positives and learn from what went wrong.
One thing is certain.
Mark Robins won’t deviate from the patient passing game he firmly believes is the best way to avoid another survival battle as Town work to establish themselves in the Championship against the backdrop of Financial Fair Play and a desire to be as self-sustaining as possible.
It took far too long to ensure they will have a third successive season in the second tier.
A 10-game winless run, which meant Robins’ men, at one stage up in seventh place and being talked of as possible contenders for a play-off place, were sucked closer and closer to the wrong end of the table, was trying for the manager and supporters alike.
It was finally ended when Adam Clayton thumped home a stoppage-time winner at Yeovil on Easter Monday.
The former Leeds midfielder has certainly caught the eye, and not just because of the beard that progressed from stubble to a blue and white charity-raising wonder.
Championship rivals Brighton tested Town’s resolve with a £1m January transfer-window offer for the 25-year-old who cost £350,000 in the wake of promotion from League I two years ago.
There could well be more interest in the Mancunian, who is under contract for a further 12 months.
And there could be an element of wheeling and dealing as Robins, who has a dozen squad members out of contract and the futures of loaned-out strikers Martin Paterson and Jon Stead to consider, reshapes his squad over the next few months.
As ever, new faces are eagerly awaited, and will obviously be key to avoiding another season of what chairman Dean Hoyle termed under-achievement.
So too will be keeping James Vaughan on the pitch.
The explosive striker, a £600,000 summer signing from Norwich after his successful loan in 2012-13, managed 10 goals in his 20 league starts, a pretty decent return.
But his last in open play came on October 1, a reflection of a campaign interrupted by the three-match suspension for his straight red card at Leicester later that month and a repeat of the fitness issues which have dogged his career, his most recent problem necessitating knee surgery.
It’s meant supporters have had little chance to see Vaughan in tandem with Nahki Wells, who became Town’s record £1.3m signing from Bradford in January.
Bermudian star Wells has shown both his ability to bag goals and his impressive workrate in a different system to the one he was used to at Valley Parade.
There’s also been a big change of scenery for Wells’ fellow frontman Joe Lolley, who has spent the last few months adjusting to his £350,000 switch from non-league Kidderminster and shown glimpses of his raw talent when coming off the bench.
Norwegian Sondre Tronstad, like forward Danny Carr and defender Jake Carroll, is another work in progress while his fellow midfielder Jonathan Hogg became Town’s third most expensive acquisition in the last 12 months when he moved from Watford for £400,000 shortly before the start of a season which brought the early £2m departure of full-back Jack Hunt to Crystal Palace.
Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out for either Stead, who finished the campaign at Bradford after a loan to Oldham, or Paterson, the Northern Ireland regular who is currently at Bristol City.
Stead’s sole goal in his second Town spell was at least memorable – the winner at home to Leeds – while ex-Burnley man Paterson has notched six times for the club, but took 12 games to get off the mark and then fell behind Wells in the pecking order.
One of his goals helped Town chalk up a 5-1 win over Yeovil at the John Smith’s Stadium, and Robins’ side also went nap at home to Bournemouth and Barnsley, while their heaviest defeat was the 5-1 derby setback at Leeds.
And while Town’s goals for tally is similar to last season, they have been less leaky defensively during a campaign in which keeper Alex Smithies heads into today’s closing contest at Watford aiming to be an ever-present.
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