WE have lift off. Having stuttered and stumbled through one of the most stressful summers in recent history, Everton - belatedly - are up and running again.

It seems an eternity since followers of the Blue faith had reason to genuinely smile, but those who have spent the last few months rattling like a string of worry beads should be feeling much more reassured after yesterday’s trip to The Potteries.

Things have been very much stop-start since the campaign began on August 16, but after making a number of signings and welcoming back his old guard, David Moyes felt this would be the weekend when Everton clicked into gear, and so it proved.

Though it would be stretching the imagination to say this was vintage Everton, a hard-fought win at one of the Premier League’s most hostile arenas should provide an injection of confidence to carry them through this difficult month ahead.

Suddenly, after worrying about what might happen in the UEFA Cup and Carling Cup, three points against Stoke City will lift the mood.

Throw in the return of the man with the Midas touch and dreams will start to form again.

While all eyes may have been on record signing Marouane Fellaini at the Britannia Stadium, the shock inclusion of Tim Cahill for the first time since March 22 was the biggest fillip for Evertonians and, true to form, he stole the headlines.

As he has done so often in the past, Cahill was in the right place at the right time to come up with the goods and his intervention settled a war of attrition that had threatened to slip from Everton’s clutches.

One wonders why such a hullabaloo is made about coaches having the necessary qualifications to work in the Premier League, such as their UEFA Pro Licence and an applied management degree.

Consider this - brows are being furrowed because Gianfranco Zola, who has just taken over at West Ham, has none of the above, but there is little doubt that he will have his new side playing a brand of football that is very easy on the eye.

Then you have someone like Tony Pulis, who has evidently worked hard and studied long hours to get his shot at the Premier League yet his team tactics have no finesse or flair. Quite simply, all Stoke do in the main is launch it. Subtle, no?

Fitting, then, that a game which Sky chose to broadcast was played in the sky for much of the first half, as Everton’s defenders were forced to deal with an aerial bombardment, as a succession of high balls and long throws from Rory Delap rained down on them.