HARRY REDKNAPP had seen enough. Twenty minutes still remained of Everton FC's game with Villareal when the Tottenham Hotspur manager scuttled up the stairs of the directors’ box and out into the Merseyside night.

Redknapp had been warned he would be wasting his time garnering any indicators ahead of next weekend’s big kick-off, and David Moyes will pray none were apparent as Everton FC ended their pre-season in worrying fashion in front of their own supporters.

Suddenly, the optimism of some decent friendly performances and results has vanished to expose the fears that have been gnawing away at Evertonians for far, far too long.

No new players. No new investment. Very few expectations. The same old story.

Small wonder Goodison had long since been subdued before the final whistle was blown on Friday night’s 1-0 defeat to Villarreal.

Despite talk of a protest inside the ground, such a demonstration didn’t – or more pertinently wasn’t allowed – to happen. Yet the unrest among the fanbase cannot be quelled simply by pulling down some banners and confiscating critical flyers.

Matters aren’t quite as bad as the naysayers maintain, but the fact is the apparent inertia of the Goodison board is sapping the hopes and enthusiasm of the support.

A penny for the thoughts of Moyes. The usual comment from the manager was absent from the matchday programme, and his relative silence throughout the summer has not gone unnoticed.

Of course, financial restraints are nothing new to the Scot. But it must be galling that the main issues of this time last year – the need for a new striker, pace down the flanks, basic squad numbers – haven’t changed one iota.

Redknapp stuck around long enough to see former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi arrow home the only goal midway through the second half to give Villarreal a deserved triumph in a surprisingly tetchy friendly.

Much of the angst was sparked by a vicious 38th-minute challenge from renowned Spanish agriculturist Carlos Marchena on Seamus Coleman that saw the Irishman carried off down the tunnel en route to hospital and the Villarreal man somehow escape censure.