To pass the buck
to blame someone else, or shift the responsibility to someone else for something your should take responsibility for.
A recipe for disaster
Something that is unlikely to have a positive outcome
To fail miserably
to completely fail; to fail in a spectacular manner
To fall at the first hurdle
to fail at the beginning or at an early stage
From rags to riches
to transition from being very poor to very rich
To go back to square one
to start again
