As the Championship campaign heads into 2014, Wigan Athletic are currently languishing in 14th position in the league table, leaving them five points away from the playoff places.
The Latics began the season brightly under the guidance of Owen Coyle, making inroads domestically and in the Europa League.
However, four consecutive defeats in November and December were enough to see chairman Dave Whelan replace Coyle with Brentford boss Uwe Rosler, and the German chief will be looking for an improved second half to the season from his side.
Sports Mole looks back at the first half of the campaign for the Latics.
August
Wigan were regarded as one of the favourites for the Championship title when they kicked off their season against Barnsley in August, and a comprehensive 4-0 victory at Oakwell only increased expectations at the DW Stadium.
After their FA Cup win over Manchester City, Wigan faced Premier League champions Manchester United in the Community Shield, but despite putting in an encouraging performance, they fell to a 2-0 loss to David Moyes's outfit.
Three matches without a win through the middle of the month didn't help Coyle's side, but they did end August on a high with a 2-1 triumph over Nottingham Forest.
Off the pitch, Coyle was battling to keep some of his key players, and while he managed to retain the services of Callum McManaman, Everton were successful with a £12m offer to secure the signature of Wigan midfielder James McCarthy.
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September
Wigan returned after the international break with a 2-0 defeat to Leicester City, but they bounced back with a home success over Ipswich Town.
The Latics ended the month down in 13th place after a further setback at Watford, and Coyle was aware that his team needed to improve if they wanted to avoid falling away from the early pacesetters in the division.
In the Capital One Cup, Athletic were handed a daunting trip against Man City, and as expected, they fell to a heavy defeat at the hands of Manuel Pellegrini's side as Lee Nicholls and the Wigan defence struggled to cope with the quality in their opponents' attack.
September also saw Wigan make their Europa League bow, and a goalless draw away at Belgian club Zulte Waregem indicated that they could potentially be competitive in the tournament.
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October
The Championship is known for teams struggling to find consistency, and the Latics continued that trend throughout October.
They maintained their unbeaten home start to the campaign when Emmerson Boyce struck in added-on time to earn his side a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers, but the goals dried up for the remainder of the month.
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A Thomas Ince penalty was enough to give Blackpool a 1-0 win at Bloomfield Road, while goalless draws against Charlton Athletic and Queens Park Rangers resulted in the Latics failing to improve on their 13th position in the standings.
In Europe, Wigan followed up their point in Belgium with four points from their respective encounters with Maribor and Rubin Kazan, leaving them in second position in their group.
November
After a lacklustre beginning to the 2013-14 season, things appeared more positive during the opening weeks of November as Wigan recorded back-to-back wins in the Championship for the first time since the start of the campaign.
Nick Powell and Marc-Antoine Fortune netted winning goals against Huddersfield Town and Yeovil Town respectively to take Wigan up to 10th place, but despite a solid display, the Latics fell to defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
After a fine start to their European adventure, Wigan began to struggle with the demands of competing in high-profile fixtures on the continent, and after losing to Rubin Kazan in Russia, their hopes of qualification took a hit when suffering defeat to Zulte at the DW Stadium.
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December
December began with Wigan losing 3-1 at home to Derby County, and that resulted in Dave Whelan surprisingly taking the opportunity to relieve Coyle of his duties with the Championship outfit after less than half a season in charge.
Whelan quickly made a move for Brentford manager Uwe Rosler, and the German chief was installed as the new boss shortly before Wigan's 2-1 loss at Millwall.
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However, Rosler quickly oversaw a change in fortunes at the club, and after back-to-back successes against Bolton and Reading, the Latics ended the year with draws at home to Birmingham City and Burnley.
It was disappointment on the European front, though, as Maribor came from behind to record a 2-1 victory over the English club to knock them out of the competition.
Darren Plant
