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Before the season had started, many had tipped Valencia to challenge for the Premera Liga title, or at the least close the gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona and themselves.
A string of highly publicised arguments last season between the manager, Quique Flores and sporting director, Amedeo Carboni, was seen as a key factor as to why Valencia only finished in fourth position in La Liga last season and so Carboni was sacked after it was decided that there was only enough room at the club for one or the other.
However, things have been far from rosy at the Mestalla since the beginning of the 2007/08 season.
Flores, 42, was dismissed himself at the end of October after seeing his Valencia side demolished 3-0 at the hands of Sevilla, as Dutchman, Ronald Koeman, was brought in to steady the sinking ship. A 5-1 hammering at home to Real Madrid clearly detailed just how big a task Koeman had on his hands to get Valencia back in with a shout of challenging for the league title.
Two months on however, and Koeman's future looks just as uncertain as Flores's had before the start of the match against Sevilla.
Knocked out of the UEFA Champions League after finishing bottom of Group B behind Norwegian side, Rosenborg, Valencia's domestic form has been as equally poor as the Spanish side languish in 7th position with seven defeats to their name already in La Liga.
This has caused Koeman to take drastic action by telling two veterans that they're unlikely to play again for the rest of the season. Goalkeeper, Santiago Canizares, and most notably captain, David Albelda, both look set to leave the Mestalla after Koeman virtually sacked the pair.
Whether or not this will go down well with the Valencia fans remains to be seen, as it seems to have split bewildered supporters down the middle as to whether this will be a move in the right direction for the club or not.
Koeman is desperate to hold onto star striker, David Villa, but reports that he's unhappy with the current situation at Valencia are rife and it's thought that the striker is holding out for a move to the Premiership in the near future. This could in turn spark an exodus at the club, as Koeman knows that his managerial abilities will be well and truly put to the test over the coming month.
It appears that the decisions Koeman has made over the past fortnight will ultimately be the decisions which decide his own future at the club.
With 2008 just around the corner, a new wave of young players look poised to mark their mark on the European stage over the next 12 months. Below is a selection of promising youngsters who are set to rise to prominence in the second half of the 07/08 season, and beyond.
Samir Nasri (Age: 20, Olympique Marseille, Attacking Midfield, France)
"The new Zinedine Zidane". It's a tag which was originally placed on Bruno Cheyrou by ex-Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier, and we all know just how wrong that turned out to be... However, unlike Cheyrou, Samir Nasri actually seems to possess many of the attributes which the legendary balding Frenchman had.
At the tender age of 20, Nasri has already become a firm favourite with the Marseille fans, but they understand that like former teammate, Frank Ribery, Nasri's talents may be a bit too special for the French outfit to hold onto. The playmaker's performances for Marseille and France have alerted the attention of several top European sides, including Spanish giants Real Madrid. With France still searching for a worthy successor to the position Zidane made his own, they just may have produced a youngster with the skill and ability to ensure France will challenge for the Euro 2008 title.
The only question left for Samir Nasri to answer, is whether or not he has the same sense of occasion as the great Zidane.
Goran Pandev (Age: 24, S.S Lazio, Striker, Macedonia)
The best player to come out of Macedonia since Darko Pancev. Pandev began his career at Inter Milan but was never given his chance to shine. After several loan moves, he eventually moved to Lazio. Inter's loss was undoubtedly Lazio's gain, as the Macedonian striker has established himself as the first choice striker for the Rome based club.
His double strike against Real Madrid in this season's Champions League campaign has led to big interest from Bayern Munich, who have expressed their desire to bring the Macedonian striker to Germany for £20m. A move to Arsenal and Liverpool has also been rumoured in the past, but for the moment Pandev understandably appears to be happy as a regular starter at Lazio. However, at the age of 24, Pandev still has many years ahead of him and looks set to take Pancev's title as Macedonia's best ever football export.
Bojan Krkic (Age: 17, FC Barcelona, Striker, Spain)
Commonly known as 'Bojan' rather than his Serbian originated surname, the latest young prodigy to come out of Barcelona's youth ranks has forged a huge reputation for himself over the past year.
It's widely reported that Bojan scored a frightening 961 goals in seven years with Barcelona's youth team from when he first joined in 1999, breaking all sorts of records in the process. However, it's his slight frame rather than his short stature which is likely to pose a few problems in the first few years of his career. It's a credit to Bojan's ability that Frank Riijkard has put faith in the 17-year-old several times this season, even keeping Brazilian superstar, Ronaldinho, out of the Barcelona starting line-up on several occasions.
Bojan has made 12 appearances for the Barcelona first team so far this season, and there's talk of Spain giving the youngster a call-up for Euro 2008.
Karim Benzema (Age: 19, Olmpique Lyon, Striker, France)
Benzema has been labelled as one of the brightest hopes of French football and is clearly a striker with great predatory instincts.
As with fellow rising star, Samir Nasri, Benzema has also attracted comparisons to Zinedine Zidane, but this is more to do with the fact he is a supremely talented French player of Algerian descent rather than his style of play. Benzema currently leads the goalscoring charts in France with 12 goals to his name already, and has three goals from eight appearances at international level.
It's widely expected that Benzema will go to Euro 2008 with France next summer, as he hopes to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Ronaldo, to eventually become the greatest striker in the world.
Alexandre Pato (Age: 18, AC Milan, Striker, Brazil)
When a young player is described as a "potential genius" it's rarely taken with a pinch of salt, and AC Milan showed they were in complete agreement with the reputation Pato had built, by forking out £15.3m for 'Alex-the-duck' (Pato is the literal translation of duck in Portuguese) five months before he could even play for the club.
Pato has shown the same level of talent as the Brazilian Ronaldo had when he first burst onto the scene at Cruzeiro in 1993 and AC Milan were quick to capture his services for the second half of the 07/08 season. At just 18, Pato is said to have pace to burn, unrivalled finishing ability as well as being strong in the air.
The 18-year-old scored on his non-competitive debut for AC Milan, a sign of things to come perhaps, and has been called up by Dunga to play for Brazil in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Pato could indeed be the ideal replacement for Ronaldo, for both AC Milan and Brazil.
61-year-old Italian, Fabio Capello now appears firm favourite to take over as England manager after José Mourinho had an epiphany and decided it'd be best to rule himself out.
However, in spite of the huge reputation Capello has deservedly established, would he really be the best choice for the job?
Capello's record at club level is impeccable. Championship wins with AC Milan, Juventus, AS Roma and most recently, Real Madrid, have shown that he clearly has that essential ability to win matches, whilst creating groups of players who work hard for the team and develop a habit of winning.
It seems like the ideal choice, but there's one significant problem: the man can't speak a word of the Queen's English.
The fact that he has never managed at international level is also a factor, but probably shouldn't have much emphasis in Capello's case, because of his achievements at club level.
Capello would have to learn English in the period between now and September, when qualification starts for South Africa 2010 or major problems will inevitably arise. It's hard enough for an Englishman to understand Scouse, let alone a man from Gorizia trying to comprehend what 'ye arrrite arr kid'' means.
There have been rumours of Gianfranco Zola coming in to assist Capello, a move which will excite Chelsea fans, but is unlikely to leave a sweet taste in the mouths of nationalist purists. Would an Italian double team really go down too well with some of the hardcore English fans? I guess like with anything in football, the answer is - if they're winning games then, yes, it will do.
It comes as no real surprise to see that the tabloids haven't been running campaigns to appoint an English manager like they did after Sven was dismissed. The xenophobic references seem to have diminished somewhat since Steve McClaren showed the Red Tops that British isn't always best.
But saying this, Harry Redknapp should have been taken more seriously by the FA in this selection process. Redknapp possesses an unprecedented knowledge of English football and football in general, and has the passion for the country which could ultimately prove to be a decisive factor in a crucial match.
He's transformed Portsmouth into a side who work hard for each other, the fans and the manager, who are tough to break down at home or away and can also score goals from all different areas of the pitch.
I'm not an advocate for the campaign to bring in an English manager, I'm an advocate for picking the right man for the job. And at this moment in time, I'm of the belief that there aren't too many managers who'd be as well-suited to the England manager's job as the current Portsmouth manager.
Unfortunately for Redknapp, anything which combines the terms 'English' and 'football' at the moment is just unfashionable.
And the award for the least surprising award of the year goes to... Kaká - winner of the 2007 Ballon d'Or.
I guess even the most ardent fan of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi's talents wouldn't have felt cheated seeing the AC Milan midfielder pick up the Football of the Year award, and would have just accepted it as the 'correct result'.
His 10 Champions League goals in last season's competition was ultimately the key factor as to why the Brazilian amassed 444 points - from 96 leading journalists across the world - out of a possible 480.
However, this has led me to believe that most of the emphasis in this particular individual award, arguably the most prestigious in world football, is placed on the Champions League - with less focus on domestic football.
Kaká only scored eight goals in last season's Serie A campaign as AC Milan finished 36 points behind arch-rivals and eventual league winners, Inter Milan. Not even the seemingly untouchable Kaká could inspire AC Milan to finish above fourth place. Although they started with an eight point deduction as a result of the match fixing scandal, they still would have only finished six points behind second placed, AS Roma had they began on a level playing field.
On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo had an incredible season for Manchester United and picked up a whole host of individual award from managers, players and journalists in England. His 17 goal tally in the Premiership secured Manchester United's first title win in four seasons, and his place as the third top goalscorer in the league. Not bad for a winger.
Now, I believe that had Manchester United not performed so abysmally in the San Siro in the second leg of last year's Champions League semi-final, having played out and won the first leg in emphatic fashion, the gap between Kaká's 444 points and Ronaldo's 277 points would have been a whole lot closer. Or who knows, maybe even a different result entirely.
Another area of football which appears to have been pretty much overlooked in the voting for this award is international football. Kaká missed the 2007 Copa America because of the gruelling schedule which had taken its toll on him and fellow Brazilian superstar, Ronaldinho. Fair enough, but surely this should have had a bearing on the results of the Ballon d'Or?
Whilst Kaká was busy resting at home in Brazil or Italy, Lionel Messi was hard at work, working his magic in Argentina's run to the final of the Copa America in Venezuela, where they ironically lost to Brazil. Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo was Portugal's top scorer in qualification for Euro 2008. Also, Ronaldo has already scored more international goals than Kaká.
Messi's third placed placing seems to be a fair one. Mainly because he was injured at the start of the year and because Barcelona failed to win any major honours. However, has there ever been a 20-year-old footballer with so much ability? His performances since coming back from injury in the spring of this year have been nothing short of spectacular. If things keep going the way they are, the Argentine will easily end his career placed within the same bracket as the greatest footballers of all time.
If I were a betting man, my money would be placed firmly on Messi to win the 2008 Footballer of the Year award. Although saying this, I guess I've learnt to accept that much will depend on how Barcelona perform in the Champions League...
