Orebro will be happy enough with a ninth place finish this season, but there will be a slight inquest about the way they finished the campaign. Because while there is no doubt that Axel Kjall's side didn't down tools on purpose, heads definitely went down in the last six games where Orebro failed to win once. They finished the campaign with three straight defeats and the gap up to eighth placed GIF Sundsvall was an astounding eight points in the end. That really signals an alarming gap between the top half and bottom half of the Swedish top flight, and unfortunately for Kjall's side they look like they very much belong to the bottom half of the equation.
Orebro actually started the season pretty magnificently and were undefeated eight games in. Then a home defeat to Hammarby took the unbeaten record away from them and from thereon in form was much patchier. Lowpoints must surely include losing four points to relegation play off outfit Brommapojkarna, and conceding ten goals in their last three league games. But overall the season went as well as would've been expected, and they were at least a little bit more consistent than they were last year.
It's not really clear if Orebro will be able to better this league position, as it all depends on budgets and resources available for Kjall next season. The club will be happy with a finish in the top ten, and also delighted that they were never ever threatened by the relegation tide. The great start to the season saw off that threat immediately, which will pave the way to frustration as to why on earth Orebro relapsed once they lost their unbeaten record. They were nearly a third into the season by then, but they never hit the heights of the spring fixtures again. They can't always rely on such strong starts so a plan for next season must take shape sooner rather than later.
