Jose Mourinho's summer return to Chelsea had their fans dreaming of a first Premier League success since 2010.
The Portuguese tactician has retaken to life in England as if he had never been away, with the Blues firmly in the title hunt at the turn of the New Year.
Here, Sports Mole recaps what has been a productive, if not special, first half of the season for the Stamford Bridge outfit.
August
Some things never change. Mourinho's Chelsea, as they were in his first tenure, were invincible at home in domestic competition, although critics suggested that they were still a world-class striker short following hard-fought wins over newly-promoted Hull City and Aston Villa.
Wayne Rooney was their number one target, but Manchester United were insistent on keeping the striker and he featured in the 0-0 draw against the Blues at Old Trafford on the final Monday of the month.
Fernando Torres got off the mark for the campaign in the Super Cup, but the Europa League holders missed out on a piece of early-season silverware as Mourinho lost against his old foe Pep Guardiola, now manager of Bayern Munich, in a penalty-shootout epic.
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September
Considering the doubt over the quality of his forward options, many were surprised that Mourinho allowed Romelu Lukaku to join Everton on a season-long loan, although Samuel Eto'o was brought in to provide them with extra firepower.
Lukaku was ineligible for the Toffees when Chelsea lost on their visit to Goodison Park, and a surprise defeat to Basel on their own turf the following Wednesday saw their Champions League group stage campaign and September get off to the worst possible start.
Their strikers were still yet to score in the league, but goals were coming from unlikely sources as John Obi Mikel finally broke his 185-game Premier League duck in a 2-0 win over Fulham, while Swindon Town were an easy obstacle in their Capital One Cup run.
After finding himself demoted to the bench for much of the 2012-2013 campaign under Rafael Benitez's management, John Terry was very much captain fantastic again and he scored the equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur to keep Chelsea third behind the two North London pacesetters.
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October
October was a perfect month for the Blues as they won all of their six games across three competitions, with a 4-0 thrashing of Steaua Bucuresti preceding a comfortable victory at Norwich City, where Oscar and Eden Hazard both scored and £30m summer signing Willian opened his account for the club.
Samuel Eto'o followed suit in a 4-1 win over Cardiff City and while there was widespread confusion as to why last year's player of the season, Juan Mata, could not get a place in the team, Mourinho's preferred number 10 Oscar was on the scoresheet again to prove his worth.
Another win to zero in the Champions League came as Torres netted a double in a 3-0 win over a talented Schalke 04 side, and there was talk of the Spaniard being back to his best when he capitalised on a Joe Hart error to bag a stoppage-time winner against Manchester City.
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It would be six games until Torres scored again, but his compatriot Mata served Mourinho up a reminder of his quality with a goal in the 2-0 League Cup win over Arsenal, who were the only side above them in the top flight at the time.
November
Mata started against Newcastle United the following weekend, but his manager then claimed to have picked completely the wrong XI after Chelsea went down 2-0 on Tyneside, although they responded by repeating their convincing win over Schalke to put their European campaign in good shape.
A controversial last-minute penalty from Hazard stole them a home point against West Bromwich Albion and ensured that Mourinho's Stamford Bridge invincibility remained intact, and Frank Lampard was as reliable for a goal as ever as he notched a brace in a 3-0 victory over former club West Ham United.
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The month ended on a negative note, though, with Mohamed Salah again their nemesis as Basel completed an unlikely double over the 2012 Champions League winners by scoring late in Switzerland.
December
Ashley Cole had been firmly ousted by Cesar Azpilicueta at left-back by the time they recovered from going behind after 14 seconds to beat Southampton 3-1, with Demba Ba netting his first, and only the fourth by a forward in Chelsea's Premier League season, to guarantee the points.
Goals were not hard to come by though, and they scored six in their next two games, only to concede the same amount at the other end. They came out on top in a seven-goal thriller with Sunderland, where the magnificent Hazard scored twice, but Oussama Assaid's 90th-minute stunner earned Stoke City a 3-2 win in the Potteries.
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Chelsea had slipped four points off the pace, but narrow home wins over Steaua and Crystal Palace helped them close that gap and secure qualification for the Champions League last 16 as group winners.
They could not progress in another competition, though, as Sunderland dumped them out in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, while the emphasis was very much on not losing, rather than winning, as their top-of-the-table clash with Arsenal ended goalless.
Their defence, which had been leaky at the start of the month, shut out Swansea City in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, before a more attacking display paid dividends as, in one of the games of the season, they overcame Liverpool to keep up with the leaders in an intriguing and open Premier League title race.
Joe Fish
