EVERTON supporters are annoyed this week, and perhaps an indication of just how unhappy they are is that being the target for bottle-throwing Brentford fans seems the least of anyone’s concerns.

Four days that were supposed to kick-start the season, with a home game against one of the promoted sides and a cup tie against League One opponents, instead saw the Blues descend into the seventh circle of footballing hell.

Before the Newcastle United game almost everyone, fans, pundits and Everton players themselves, had focussed on the Blues’ possession and general footballing performances and ascribed the slow start to poor finishing and some individual errors.

The underlying message was that the problems are superficial and that any moment now everything is going to click into place of its own accord.

This is, after all, pretty much the team that performed so imperiously during the second half of last season.

No one is thinking that now.

Taken in isolation, the Brentford result could perhaps be explained away. Fringe players got their chance, Everton missed a number of decent opportunities and, at a tight ground against a side who raised their game, they eventually miss out in the semi-lottery of a penalty shootout.