Milan started the season full of promise. Football critics argued that the Rossoneri's non-participation in the Champions League would make the club focus exclusively on the Serie A.
But with 13 games to go, Milan are in third place and 11 points adrift of leaders Inter and two behind second-placed Juventus.
Milan are out of the Coppa Italia and their only real chance of winning any silverware this season seems to be via the UEFA Cup. Failure to do so, would automatically define their 2008/09 campaign as an overall disaster.
On Sunday, Milan considered themselves lucky to have beaten Cagliari 1-0 at the San Siro. The fans did not like the fare produced and booed coach Carlo Ancelotti and match-winner Clarence Seedorf at the final whistle.
But, who is to blame for Milan's indifferent season... the coach, the players or the management?
Some impatient fans reckon the time is ripe for Milan to show Ancelotti the backdoor. But would that change alone help the team return to the glory days of the past? And what about the transfer policy?
One has to identify who is really responsible for the club's wheelings and dealings in the transfer market. Was Ancelotti consulted before new players were signed this season?
It now seems that the transfers of star players Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko only materialised because of the bargain prices agreed upon with Barcelona and Chelsea respectively. So far, their contribution did not help to bolster Ancelotti's preferred 4-3-2-1 system.
In recent years, Milan tended to act prudently on the transfer market. Gone are the days when they used to go for a star player in the pinnacle of his career like they had done with the signing of Alessandro Nesta in 2002.
On the contrary, in recent years, Milan opted for seasoned campaigners, the likes of Emerson (Real Madrid), Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Shevchenko (Chelsea), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Giuseppe Favalli (Inter) and David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy).
Riccardo Kaka (2003), Alberto Gilardino (2005 before he was off-loaded to Fiorentina), Alexandre Pato (2007) and Mathieu Flamini (2008) were the only notable exceptions to this policy of new signings.
One need not be a football expert to realise that Milan need to revamp their ageing squad and, more importantly, to bolster two particular sectors - central defence and attack.
The fact that Maldini (40) and Favalli (37) have featured prominently in Serie A this season makes Milan's plight to find suitable and reliable replacements even more urgent. Kakha Kaladze (31) and Alessandro Nesta (33) are not getting any younger either.
Moreover, in the case of injury-prone Nesta, a decision should be taken immediately. It is futile to postpone his retirement from the game if the possibilities of seeing him back in action are diminishing by the day.
In attack, Ancelotti can rely on a few top notch supporting strikers like Kaka, Ronaldinho, Seedorf and Pato. However, apart from Marco Borriello, another player prone to injury, the team desperately needs a deadly finisher, one who can guarantee 20 goals each season.
I recall writing last summer that the signing of Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) or Didier Drogba (Chelsea) would have been more beneficial for Milan albeit the price paid for either of the two would have been far more than they forked out to get Ronaldinho.
It seems that Milan stood to gain more from Ronaldinho through merchandising than they would have reaped from the signing of either Eto'o or Drogba.
But a successful club like the Rossoneri cannot put money matters before pure football considerations.
Milan's soul-searching to uncover their pitfalls should not be shallow and restricted to the decision whether or not to opt for a change in coach only.
Next season, with or without Ancelotti, Milan need to bring in new faces, give more space to youngsters and strenghten their weak areas. Failure to do so, will see them faltering again.