FINALLY, an Everton win, that rarest of beasts, has been spotted at Goodison Park, and so the year ends on a cautiously optimistic note.

The Blues played better in spells against Birmingham and Sunderland than they did in the Burnley game, but when you are down at the wrong end of the table it’s all about the result and nothing else. And thankfully the three points have lifted us clear of the Premier League perforation, so we can all relax a bit and enjoy the third round of the FA Cup at the weekend.

It’s no surprise to anyone that the better performances have coincided with players returning from injury, with first Steven Pienaar and then Leon Osman adding a bit of creativity, and now the versatile Phil Neville is back to give David Moyes a few more options in defence and midfield.

The most dramatic return though was obviously that of James Vaughan, as he finally managed to make the breakthrough against Burnley and celebrated like someone who has been through some tough times. His sheer enthusiasm gave the whole ground a lift, even before he scored the opener, and hopefully this return to the team will last a bit longer than some of the others he has made over the last couple of years. He deserves a bit of luck and we are going to need someone to cover for Yakubu while he is away at the African Nations Cup. It’s fanciful to expect Louis Saha to play every game – and that’s without considering the rumours circulating about him leaving in January – and Landon Donovan represents a completely unknown quantity. Even if Vaughan’s not fit enough to start games he has shown that he’s useful to bring on as a sub, and so surely it makes sense to keep him here rather than let him go out on loan again, for the time being at least.

Hopefully the New Year and the second half of the season can bring a complete change of fortune not just for Vaughan, but for whole club, because the last six months has been pretty grim. However, we’re still in Europe, we have a home draw against lower league opposition in the FA Cup, and finally we are beginning to play a bit of football, at least in spells.

If we can bring in some half decent players who hit the ground running in January, and don’t lose too much ground in the league in the next couple of months, who knows what we might achieve come May?