THE Everton FC coaching staff is mainly unaltered, the players are largely the same and the indomitable team spirit has not changed.

But for James McFadden, the seismic shift in the Premier League landscape during the past three years means it is an entirely different Everton to which he has returned.

David Moyes completed a surprise move for the Scotland international earlier this week in an attempt to bolster his striking resources.

McFadden was a free agent having been released by Birmingham City in the summer after missing almost all of the previous campaign with a serious knee injury.

The forward previously spent almost five years at Goodison between August 2003 and January 2008, helping Everton cement themselves as regular top-six finishers and European qualifiers.

McFadden, though, is fully aware that a repeat is unlikely this campaign.

“In terms of finishing fifth and sixth, then that is going to be difficult because of the money that is at the top of the table,” he says,

“Some of the teams that have spent big will be happy with the top 10. The fact that a couple of the better players have left and the money situation means it is going to be difficult (for Everton) but there is a good spirit and there is the same core of players who have done it before.”

However, McFadden knows from recent experience that it is possible for those teams outside the established order to succeed. After all, his former club Birmingham surprised Arsenal by winning the Carling Cup less than eight months ago.