Sheffield Wednesday returned to the Championship after two seasons in League One with hopes of registering a mid-table finish or going even better and replicating the double-promotion successes of Norwich City and Southampton.
Things have not been so easy though and Dave Jones's Owls are fully embroiled in a relegation scrap at the midway point of the campaign.
Below, Sports Mole takes a look at Wednesday's barren start to the term that has ended on a high during the festive period.
August
The season began in Oldham where Wednesday cruised through to the second round of the Capital One Cup before kicking off their league campaign with a last-gasp draw at Derby.
A pair of 3-2 wins in front of the Hillsborough faithful over Birmingham and Millwall followed to spark hope that Wednesday could recreate the successive promotion success of Norwich and Southampton.
This optimism was heightened further when Premier League Fulham came to South Yorkshire and were knocked out of the League Cup.
September
Dizzying August was soon a distant memory as all six games in September ended in defeat for the Owls. First, Palace ended Jones's 18-game unbeaten stretch since taking over at the club before further losses were suffered against Brighton, Huddersfield, Bolton and Wolves in the league.
The club also exited the League Cup at the hands of a Jay Rodriguez-inspired Southampton to make September a month to forget.
October
Wednesday finally stopped the rot by countering Charlie Austin's hat-trick with three goals of their own at Turf Moor.
They were soon back on the losing side though as Hull left Hillsborough with all three points.
A Yorkshire derby against Leeds was next and a feisty 1-1 draw was blemished when the Owls' keeper Chris Kirkland was struck in the face by a Leeds fan who had run onto the pitch.
Another loss at Blackburn made the Owls' fans even more restless before they finally picked up a win at the 10th time of asking at fellow strugglers Ipswich, with Everton loanee Ross Barkley and Michail Antonio on the scoresheet in a rampant 3-0 display.
November
Lowly Peterborough were also seen off with Barkley again netting as Wednesday looked to edge themselves away from the drop zone.
They were unable to do so, however, as the remainder of November brought back horrible memories of two months before.
Five straight losses were incurred to Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Forest, Leicester and Watford to leave Jones's side wedged in the bottom three.
December
December didn't begin any better as the streak of losses was extended to seven with defeats at Cardiff and late at home to Bristol - a result that saw the Robins climb out of the bottom three.
A maximum was at last found in the Yorkshire derby at Barnsley and Wednesday would go on to record two further successes against Charlton and Bolton.
That leaves the Owls in 21st position, one place above the drop zone and two points clear of the bottom three.
Pascal Lemesre
