THE Newport Gwent Dragons supporters that hadn't already headed to the exit made it clear that they won't get fooled again when they booed their side off the Rodney Parade pitch last Friday.

'Ah, but next year...' is a phrase that seems to be getting uttered earlier and earlier as the seasons pass.

Coaches channel the spirit of Derek Trotter – "this time next year we'll be millionaires" – by optimistically promising things will be different when experienced players arrive and the young talent has been exposed to the rigours of regional rugby.

We are stuck in a time warp.

Last weekend's meek collapse to Munster's second string was just as demoralising as the shocking 60-3 home loss to Glasgow in February 2013 or last March's 24-8 loss to Connacht.

Good luck to those tasked with selling season tickets for next season as plenty of folk have seen enough and intend to vote with their feet.

The Dragons have enjoyed tremendous backing through the years with between 5 and 6,000 punters regularly heading to Rodney Parade despite the frequent disappointments.

They do it out of habit with reasonable deals in the summer months leading them to renege on winter promises to pack it in.

Their patience has been tested too many times.

The Dragons scrambled a ninth-place finish in the Guinness Pro12 last season thanks to a narrow last-day win against Treviso.

It already looks like a repeat of that is as good as they can hope for this season, potentially exploiting the shambles in the capital that sees Cardiff Blues also languishing at the basement.

It's a world away from the pre-season hope that the Dragons would push for a top-half finish and be involved in a qualification race for the European Rugby Champions Cup.

They haven't notched a Pro12 point since their solitary league success of the season against Treviso on September 28 and unlike a petulant teenager losing on a computer game there is no chance of turning off the machine to have another crack at 2014/15.

But for now the only solution, which will frustrate the blood-thirsty section of support, is to soldier on.

The coaches and players know that a dramatic improvement is needed as they attempt to improve the region's reputation, which is woeful throughout Wales and even worse outside of the country.

Think of how you approach a home game with Treviso, Zebre or a European minnow – that's how everyone else views a game with the Dragons. If a title hopeful comes unstuck at Rodney Parade then it's four points dropped and even Connacht and Edinburgh see the games as ones that they should win.

That can be changed, as this weekend's opponents Glasgow have shown, but a proper long-term plan and cash is the solution and the Dragons need to spend what they can rustle together more wisely.

Coaches live and die by their recruitment but at the moment the summer's work of Lyn and Kingsley Jones isn't looking too sharp with more misses than hits.

Lock Rynard Landman and loosehead Boris Stankovich have been good additions but the signings of Lee Byrne, Aled Brew, Ian Gough, Andy Powell, Rhys Buckley and David Young just haven't yet provided value for money.

The Dragons and their regional rivals were hindered by the spat with the Welsh Rugby Union over a fresh participation agreement but need to improve their success rate with another summer cull on the cards.

Off the field things are just as depressing for a region that has never really known its identity.

Gareth Davies, a chief executive who was putting the Dragons on the map, has left to become chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union and his successor will come and endure the same old problems at an organisation stuck in a Newport/Gwent no man's land.

It really is the same old, same old and the supporters are sick of it.