It would be fair to say that not all Aston Villa fans welcomed former Birmingham boss Alex McLeish to the club with open arms.
A solid start did seem to point to a successful season, but it has been their lack of invention that has borne the brunt of their criticism.
Here is
August
After the club lost arguably their two most influential players from the previous campaign in Stewart Downing and Ashley Young, it was always going to be a tough task for McLeish to sufficiently replace the duo.
In came Charles N'Zogbia, while Shay Given replaced Tottenham-bound Brad Friedel between the sticks.
On the pitch, the club followed up their opening 0-0 draw against Fulham with a 3-1 win over Blackburn, while a 2-0 win over Hereford secured their passage in the Carling Cup. The month ended with a fairly low-key 0-0 draw with Wolves, but an unbeaten August was enough to silence some of the early doubters.
September
September started with a hard-fought point at Everton, but more home points were dropped after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle at Villa Park. The club also exited the Carling Cup, while summer signing N'Zogbia was struggling in his new surroundings.
The club were seconds away from securing a vital win at QPR late in the month before a Richard Dunne own goal, but they continued to remain unbeaten in the league.
October
October started with a morale-boosting 2-0 win against Wigan, but successive defeats to Manchester City and West Brom placed McLeish under pressure from the club's fans.
A 2-2 draw at Sunderland ended the month with criticism that the club were lacking invention in midfield after their summer departures.
November
A Darren Bent double helped Villa to a 3-2 win over Norwich, but they went down 2-0 to Spurs after an extremely disappointing performance.
The month ended with a fairly low-key 0-0 draw at Swansea as McLeish continued to search for that winning formula. The club remained resolute in defence, but were struggling to provide Bent with the service he had in the previous campaign.
December
December began with a 1-0 loss to Manchester United but the club responded with a 2-1 win away at struggling Bolton.
Successive home defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal again highlighted the club's lack of invention in front of their own fans, but a 0-0 draw at Stoke on Boxing Day was a further indication of the club's continued strength in defence.
Matt Law
