Nottingham Forest went into their 2012-13 Championship campaign with plenty of optimism following a Kuwaiti takeover.
With new man Sean O'Driscoll at the helm, Forest built a solid foundation for a playoff push in the New Year.
However, the midway point of the campaign brought with it some staggering news as O'Driscoll was dismissed on Boxing Day, despite a rousing win over Leeds in front of their own fans. Alex McLeish was quickly installed to take the reins.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the now-former boss O'Driscoll's half of the season. Can McLeish improve on it?
August
New boss O'Driscoll got off to a winning start against new Football League side Fleetwood in the Capital One Cup before Adlene Guedioura netted the only goal on his debut in an opening-day success over Bristol City.
A pair of draws followed at Huddersfield and Bolton before August ended with with an exit from the League Cup to Wigan of the Premier League.
September
This heavy defeat didn't deter O'Driscoll's men though as they continued their unbeaten start to the season by beating Charlton before recording back-to-back draws against Birmingham and Palace.
The six-game unbeaten start was ended by Leeds in the next and they would then go on a three-game winless streak, with September ending in a humiliating home loss to East Midlands rivals Derby.
October
Managerless Blackburn held Forest to a goalless draw before O'Driscoll's side got back to winning ways at lowly Peterborough thanks to Andy Reid's screamer.
Table-toppers Cardiff were the next to be dispatched as Forest gained momentum. They impressively drew at Blackpool and then finished the month by netting four against Barnsley to lift themselves into the playoff places.
November
Another 4-1 result came at the start of the penultimate month, but this time Forest were on the wrong end of the scoreline as an in-form Millwall came to the City Ground and claimed the points.
Stubborn draws against the promotion-chasing duo of Middlesbrough and Leicester were followed by a maximums over struggling Wednesday and ailing Wolves where Guedioura scored a stunner against his former club.
Forest could not move into the playoffs going into December as a resurgent Ipswich under Mick McCarthy took all three points in Suffolk to claw their way out of the drop zone.
December
O'Driscoll's side returned to the City Ground but they couldn't pick up a win as high-flying Hull came and took the win.
Billy Sharp has been Forest's most regular goalscorer throughout the 2012-13 term and he was on the scoresheet as Forest again moved tantalisingly close to the playoff spots by overcoming Burnley.
The next 180 minutes came and went without Forest scoring a goal as, first, they held Brighton to a stalemate before going down 2-0 in Watford to Gianfranco Zola's Hornets, who were racing up the table, in the final game before Christmas.
Boxing Day was a much merrier affair as Forest scored three goals in seven second-half minutes to breeze past Leeds, with Sharp netting a brace to take his season tally to eight.
Astonishingly, this proved to be O'Driscoll's last game in charge as, later that same day, Forest owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi announced on his Twitter page that O'Driscoll had been given the boot.
It didn't take Al-Hasawi long to replace the 55-year-old as Alex McLeish was appointed the following day.
The Scot's installation displeased many Reds fans on Twitter and it certainly seemed harsh on O'Driscoll, with Forest just a point outside the playoff spots. A strange end to a bright first half of the season that, unfortunately, left O'Driscoll in the dark.
Pascal Lemesre
