THE Carling Cup proved the catalyst for success last season at Everton. Last night, though, the competition underlined how such progress has since alarmingly stalled.
A potentially season-defining week began in dismal fashion as the Goodison outfit floundered at the first hurdle at Ewood Park.
Reaching the semi-finals of this competition last season had been a significant landmark in David Moyes’s tenure at the club, one which generated a momentum that pushed his team towards fifth place in the Premier League and the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.
Yet hopes of a similarly morale-boosting run were dashed by a 10th-minute goal from young Blackburn left-back Martin Olsson.
That Robbie Fowler, such a thorn in Everton’s side during his time at Liverpool, should provide the assist only rubbed salt into a gaping wound.
With Saturday’s Merseyside derby followed by a crucial UEFA Cup clash at Standard Liege next Thursday, this was a dreadful start to a pivotal eight days.
Indeed, Blackburn – who had already won at Goodison on the opening day of the season – could easily won by a greater margin but for some over-elaborate finishing.
For the fifth time in seven games this season, Everton conceded the first goal.
But unlike the recent battling displays against Standard and Hull City, there was to be no reprieve for Everton, only recrimination. And as Moyes admitted afterwards, the jeers that rang out at the final whistle from a disgruntled away end were entirely justified.
If only Everton’s play had been as bright at their luminous yellow away kit.
Moyes had publicly feared his team weren’t ready for the new campaign, an assertion that is now being given worrying credence.
The drawback of Everton’s mad rush to bring in reinforcements before the transfer window, and the subsequent lack of preparation time for the newcomers, has become apparent in the past week.
Eyebrows were raised when Moyes made Marouane Fellaini the club’s record signing when splashing out £15million on the Standard Liege midfielder.
At 20-years-old, the Belgian is clearly still learning his trade and, while showing flashes of early promise, it will take time for him to settle in a new team, a new country and a new culture.
That, though, is time Everton don’t have right now amid a spell of games that could shape the remainder of their season.
Segundo Castillo also arrived with the intention of shoring up the midfield and signified his intent with a blistering strike against Standard.
But, as at Hull City on Sunday, the Ecuador international was substituted at half-time, hauled off along with Fellaini as Everton struggled to contain the probings of Blackburn’s veteran Tugay.
