When Paul Lambert took charge of Aston Villa in the summer, he promised to change the philosophy of the club and introduce young players into the team.
They struggled in the early stages of the season, but their young side has impressed in recent weeks with their vigour and workrate. However, it appears that Darren Bent will depart Villa Park in the January transfer window.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at their season thus far having been tipped as an outside bet for relegation at the beginning of the campaign.
August
A certain Belgian Christian Benteke was brought to Villa Park at the end of August to join Ashley Westwood, Joe Bennett, Brad Guzman, Ron Vlaar, Matthew Lowton and Karim El Ahmadi at the club for the start of the Premier League season.
Their campaign got underway with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to West Ham United, before they were also beaten at home to Everton to make it two losses at the beginning of the season. However, they did secure progress to the next round of the League Cup with a 3-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers.
September
September began with a K1-1 draw away to Newcastle United, but they picked up their first three points of the season with a 2-0 win against Swansea City half-way through the month. However, their most disappointing result to date followed when they were thumped 4-1 by a struggling Southampton.
League Cup progress was once more ensured, however, with an impressive extra-time win over a strong Manchester City side. They ended a fairly successful month with a 1-1 draw against high-flying West Bromwich Albion.
October
Back-to-back league defeats opened October as they were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham, but they picked up their first point of the month with a 1-1 draw against Norwich City.
Their disappointing league results were at least separated by their form in the cup competition as they continued their march in the League Cup with a 3-2 win over Swindon Town.
However, cracks were starting to show with outsiders insisting that Lambert's side were not good enough, or indeed old enough, to compete at this level.
November
November began with an impressive 1-0 win over Sunderland, before losing 3-2 at home to Manchester United. However, it was their performance against United that was the catalyst for their change of form.
Andres Weimann and Benteke were both in sensational form against Sir Alex Ferguson's side as they moved into a 2-0 lead, but they were pegged back by three late goals, including a double from Javier Hernandez.
They were then brought back down to earth, however, after being thumped 5-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, but their form has turned since then.
November ended with a home draw against Arsenal and a home win over Reading, with Benteke grabbing the only strike as interest in the Belgian continued to grow.
December
The month began with a 1-1 draw against struggling Queens Park Rangers, before picking up a home point against Stoke City. They continued their unbeaten run with a thumping 4-1 win over Norwich City in the League Cup to ensure their progress to the semi-finals, where they learnt that they will meet Bradford.
They then recorded their most impressive result of the season to date with a 3-1 win over Liverpool, with Benteke once more impressing. However, the Belgian's form has tied in with the demise of Bent, who cannot buy a game this season.
They travelled full of confidence to Chelsea, who themselves had dropped to seventh due to their involvement in the Club World Cup, but they were on the end of a 8-0 thumping at Stamford Bridge.
They then welcomed Tottenham Hotspur to Villa Park on Boxing Day, but a hat-trick from Gareth Bale condemned Lambert's side to another defeat as they dropped into sixteenth in the table.
Matt Law
