Having dropped down from the Premier League, many thought that Birmingham City would be challenging at the top of the Championship this season.
Instead, Europa League commitments have left Chris Hughton's side languishing in 15th place in the league table.
Despite an uninspiring first half to the campaign, the Blues are still only six points off the playoff places going into 2012.
August
Wins against Derby County and local rivals Coventry City in their first two games allowed optimism to spread around St Andrews.
A goalless draw in the first leg of their Europa League playoff draw against Portuguese side Nacional showed that they had what it takes to compete in the competition, while a 3-0 win back on home turf saw them progress to the group stages of the tournament.
Elsewhere, they got their first taste of domestic defeat for the season with a 3-1 loss at high-flying Middlesbrough, while they ended the month with a draw at Watford.
September
September started brightly enough with a 3-0 win at home to Millwall, but a defeat against Southampton and a draw with Barnsley showed the first signs of a stutter from Birmingham.
A 3-1 home defeat to a strong Braga side got their Europa League group stage campaign off to a bad start, but they were able to get their first points on the board with a 2-1 win in Slovenia against NK Maribor.
The Blues were also knocked out of the Carling Cup against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
October
City went unbeaten in October as they notched up league wins against Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bristol City and Leeds United. They also earned a point with a goalless draw against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Chris Hughton's side also held their own on the European stage as they defeated Brugge 2-1 in Belgium in the Europa League.
November
Despite some respectable results in the Europe, Birmingham were unable to turn draws into wins and a 2-2 draw at home to Brugge meant that their fate was not in their hands going into the final round of fixtures.
They lost their second league game of the season courtesy of a 1-0 defeat at Reading, while draws with Blackpool and Peterborough United were accompanied by a win at home to Burnley.
The month ended on a losing note as the Midlands side were edged out in the Europa League 1-0 by Braga in Portugal.
December
League defeats at Cardiff City and Hull City could have signalled a bad end to the year for the Blues, but they were able to turn it around in the next game with a 2-1 win at home to struggling Doncaster Rovers.
However, their inconsistency showed again as they were beaten 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace before they earned a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United.
Despite a 1-0 win at home to Maribor, Birmingham's Europa League campaign came to an end in the middle of the month. Brugge's draw at Braga saw the Belgian and Portuguese teams progress from Group H and into the knockout draw.
Although they have struggled to conjure a winning run in the league, a string of wins in 2012 could see Birmingham competing for a coveted place in the Premier League.
Jack Prescott
