IT felt more like Groundhog Day.
The opening afternoon of 2011 carried that nagging headache which has seen Everton’s season promise much, but only left supporters with an uneasy feeling in their stomach.
Although another performance defined by a lack of killer instinct will have driven some to the bottle for a second consecutive night, fortunately the New Year gives manager David Moyes the opportunity to find a temporary cure.
The January transfer window can help Everton alter an all too familiarly depressing tale which unfolded at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday as Stoke City were gift wrapped some belated presents.
Apart from the glaring omission of any striking threat – bar the infrequent flashes of promise from Louis Saha - the weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Tony Pulis’ side only served to highlight that Moyes’ men are crying out for spark, verve and invention in midfield.
All these attributes were once provided so masterfully by Mikel Arteta but for as long as his impostor continues to occupy the number 10 royal blue shirt then the manager must look to replace the Spaniard with a fresh face.
Stoke continue to be wrongly labelled with negative tags about the manner in which they approach the game but few could argue on Saturday they did not provide well drilled and effective opposition to Everton.
That said, none of this should have come as any surprise to the travelling side and City do not keep you guessing, yet Everton failed sufficiently to deal with the dual threat of Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones when it mattered and saw themselves fall into a trap so many sides before them have done.
That Stoke are essentially limited in what they can do made them ripe for the picking but not for the first time this season the Goodison Park outfit looked blunt when trying to carve open a resolute defence.
