After their first 12 games in League Two under Martin Ling, Torquay United currently lie 14th in the league table.
In recent years, the Gulls' league campaigns have been characterised by a series of peaks and troughs where promotion and play-off challenges have subsequently been following by relegation battles.
Only once in the past 20 years have Torquay only managed a mid-table finish which came in the 1994-95 season when finished 13th under Don O'Riordan.
With this in mind, it could be argued that the Gulls currently find themselves in what could be regarded as unchartered territory.
The last 10 years of the club's history, you will see that Torquay only managed to retain their league status in 2001 by beating Barnet 3-2 in a final day relegation decider.
Three years later in 2004, the Gulls won automatic promotion for the first time in 38 years under Leroy Rosenior, which was followed by an immediate return to League Two in the following season.
This was then followed by relegation from the Football League for the first time in the club's history in 2007.
However far from relegation to the Conference spelling the end for Torquay, they won promotion back to the Football League in 2009 after beating Cambridge United in the Conference Play-Off Final.
Fast forward two years and they followed this up by reaching the League Two Play-Off Final last May at Old Trafford where they were beaten by Stevenage.
So back to the current campaign and the Gulls are currently on a run of six games without defeat and many of the Plainmoor faithful could be wondering if it could be a case of 'here we go again.'
Despite their recent slump, it is worth remembering that Torquay have lost same number of the games, three, as the teams current occupying the three automatic promotion spots, Southend United, Crawley Town and AFC Wimbledon.
Nevertheless, there is a saying in football that is better to win one and lose one than draw two and the Gulls have only managed to win three of their 12 league encounters thus far in the 2011-12 season.
There is no doubting some of the quality of the squad at Plainmoor, which includes Austrian goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik, Irish midfielder Eunan O'Kane, who recently agreed two-year extension to stay with the Gulls until 2014, captain Lee Mansell has managed five goals from midfield and up front Rene Howe and loan signing Billy Bodin have looked like decent acquisitions.
So perhaps the ultimate judgment on how well the Gulls' campaign has gone so far comes down to whether you see the glass as being half full or half empty.
