For most of his career in the English Premier League, six months would have been just after the halfway mark of a campaign that kicks off in early August and finishes in mid May.

Now, he won't have a competitive league fixture until October.

Cahill may be on duty with the Socceroos in the Confederations Cup in June, but that is yet to be seen.

"I can't believe the season is over, I honestly can't. I have just been sitting there now contemplating that next week we won't even be training," he said.

"That's a hard thing for me to take, it's only 27 games, I can't believe it's over.

"I have had a great year this year, I have been really happy. I just can't believe it's over.

"I have enjoyed the A-League, the competition, I have enjoyed everything that's been thrown at me, and I can't really be negative towards other teams or players or other coaches. I feel that we are growing the game slowly."

It was another campaign where Melbourne City came up short, promising another off-season of transfer dealing and personnel changes, and another reset for the A-League's most heavily hyped team.

Coach Michael Valkanis, who took over when Dutch mentor John van 't Schip quit to return to his ailing father in the Netherlands, had four months to make the job his permanently. But City's fade out in the second half of the season surely counts against him.

He refused to speculate on his future post-game, saying now was not the time to be considering the coaching position.

Whatever his future, he was brutal in the assessment of his team's performance on Sunday night when, he said, they were bullied by a tougher, determined and streetwise Perth.

"I thought the first half an hour we didn't turn up. We were impotent going forward and defensively, we did not defend those two goals well. There has been a lot of work into it and it's the same problem week in week out," Valkanis said.

"We have to improve. Were we desperate enough to block Castro's goal? No. Djublic [Perth defender Dino Djublic] prides himself on blocking goals. We probably didn't have any shots on target because he probably blocked three or four so that's the difference.

"We're already looking at planning for the future. It's not going to take a final to realise there is a problem but there is not much you can change at the moment, but you keep working," he said.

"I think Perth has been a problem for us all season. They are a strong team and they have troubled us all season with their strength. Sometimes you can play as much as you like but you have to win your battles and you have to be desperate like they were.

"It just seemed like we got bullied off the park tonight by Perth."

City can look far and wide for a more experienced coach although Valkanis is expected to stay with the club he only joined this time last year.

Veteran Danish goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has played his last game for the club and will leave, as will on-loan Argentinian Nicolas Colazo.

Both men are out of contract while Luke Brattan and Anthony Caceres are on loan from City's owners Manchester City.