Sunderland begin the New Year as the Premier League's bottom club following a troubled first half to the 2013-14 season.
The Black Cats began the campaign with modest expectations, having avoided relegation by just three points in 2012-13.
Nevertheless, the team was deemed to be underperforming after failing to win any of their opening five league matches and Paolo Di Canio was sacked in September, ending his 176-day stint as manager.
The controversial Italian was replaced by former Brighton & Hove Albion boss Gus Poyet, who has guided the Wearsiders to three wins in his first 14 top-flight games in charge.
Below, Sports Mole looks back at the first four-and-a-half months of Sunderland's season in a bit more detail.
August
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Sunderland had signed no fewer than nine players during pre-season and five of those new arrivals - Valentin Roberge, Ondrej Celustka, Cabral, Emanuele Giaccherini and Jozy Altidore - made their debuts in a 1-0 opening-day defeat to Fulham at the Stadium of Light. Modibo Diakite became Sunderland's sixth debutante of the campaign seven days later when he played 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw at Southampton, where Giaccherini scored his first goal for the Black Cats.
Greek midfielder Charalampos Mavrias arrived on Wearside on August 22 in a £3m move from Panathinaikos. The 19-year-old's first appearance in England came in a dramatic Capital One Cup tie against MK Dons. The League One outfit led Sunderland 2-0, but, after Mavrias entered the action with 25 minutes left to play, goals from Altidore, Adam Johnson and a Connor Wickham brace turned the game on its head.
Sunderland's final game of the month was a 3-1 loss at Premier League new boys Crystal Palace, which left the Black Cats 19th in the table after three rounds of fixtures. Just hours after the defeat at Selhurst Park, Swansea City winger Ki Sung-Yueng agreed to move to the Stadium of Light on a season-long loan.
September
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Sunderland signed two Italian internationals at the start of September. Striker Fabio Borini joined on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season, while former Napoli left-back Andrea Dossena put pen to paper on a one-year contract at the Stadium of Light. Borini was an ineffectual substitute as the Black Cats lost 3-1 at home to Arsenal.
The defeat to the Gunners left Sunderland 20th in the table and they remained rooted to the bottom after being thrashed 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion seven days later. That result signalled the end of Di Canio, who was sacked on September 22.
Kevin Ball was placed in caretaker charge and the former captain quickly masterminded a 2-0 win over Peterborough United in the Capital One Cup. However, Ball was unable to come up with a plan that could stop Luis Suarez in the following match. The Uruguayan, playing in his first game since biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic five months earlier, netted twice to inspire a 3-1 win for the rampant Reds.
October
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Ball was still in charge of first-team affairs when Manchester United visited the Stadium of Light. Craig Gardner fired the hosts into a surprise early lead, before Adnan Januzaj marked his full debut by netting two second-half goals in a 2-1 win for the Red Devils.
On October 8, Poyet was announced as Di Canio's replacement. The ex-Chelsea midfielder, who had been sacked by Brighton in the summer, began his Sunderland career by overseeing a 4-0 defeat at Swansea.
Poyet needed a boost and he got just that as his side overcame local rivals Newcastle United in his second game as Black Cats boss. Borini struck a spectacular winner six minutes from full time in a 2-1 win on Wearside.
November
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Sunderland's problems were largely self-inflicted as they lost 1-0 at Hull City on November 2. Dossena and Lee Cattermole both received straight red cards at the KC Stadium, while Hull's winner was an own goal scored by Carlos Cuellar.
The Black Cats bounced back with consecutive home wins. A 2-1 victory over Southampton saw them through to the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup, before a shock single-goal success against Manchester City moved them to within three points of safety in the Premier League. However, Poyet's men ended the month five points below 17th place after losing 2-0 at Stoke City and drawing 0-0 at Aston Villa.
December
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Sunderland continued to contribute to their own downfall at the start of December. Their 4-3 defeat to Chelsea and their 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur were both ultimately decided by own goals.
However, things improved and the Black Cats ended 2013 on a five-game unbeaten run. A goalless draw at West Ham United was followed by a successful revenge mission against Chelsea, who were dumped out of the Capital One Cup at the Stadium of Light as Poyet's side booked a semi-final date with Man United. Then came another 0-0 draw, this time with Norwich City.
Arguably, Sunderland's finest result in the first half of their season came on Boxing Day when they won 1-0 at Everton. Ki scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot on 25 minutes, after he had been fouled by Toffees goalkeeper Tim Howard, who received a direct red card.
Sunderland's undefeated streak appeared to be on the verge of coming to an end two days later when the Wearsiders trailed 2-0 at Cardiff City with just seven minutes remaining. However, late strikes from Steven Fletcher and Jack Colback earned a 2-2 draw and ensured that Poyet and co would begin the New Year high on optimism, despite sitting bottom of the Premier League table.
Robert Summerscales
