CAN there ever be a thing as too much stability?

It’s a poser over which Everton FC supporters have been forced to mull over during the summer transfer window as the expected lack of movement has become slowly and painfully apparent.

While seemingly all around them are splashing the cash and shipping out players in preparation for the new campaign, the Goodison board have sat and waited. And waited.

Although a forewarned David Moyes has kept his counsel, sections of the fanbase, no doubt mindful of having seen it all before, have blinked first, making clear their displeasure at the ongoing financial restraints and what they see is a lack of vision from the club.

In response, chief executive Robert Elstone felt compelled to launch a vigorous defence of the board on Friday, succeeding in fanning the flames further on the issue.

Hardly the ideal conditions, then, in which Moyes and his players could begin their pre-season preparations in earnest with the short trip to npower League One side Bury.

Yet the continuity that has thus far been forced upon the Goodison manager proved a positive as Everton romped to an impressively comfortable 4-1 triumph.

With no bedding in of new players and no great upheaval, Moyes’s men have been able to hit the ground running, a fruitful training camp in Austria followed by some heavy work at Finch Farm.

Such efforts were evident at Gigg Lane. Skipper Phil Neville may have been returning to his home town but it was the comeback of two of his team-mates that gained the greater attention.

Having missed the final three months of last season following an ankle operation, Marouane Fellaini came through the opening 45 minutes unscathed to provide some encouragement for the Everton faithful.

“It was good to see Felli back,” says Leon Osman, who was among Everton’s goalscorers. “He’s been a bit unfortunate over the past two seasons, picking up the serious injuries that he has but he’s such a big character on and off the field.