NEARLY a decade since his arrival at Everton FC, David Moyes must feel like he has come full circle.

Certainly, the Everton manager would be forgiven for thinking he is in the same situation now as when he took over.

I don’t think the team is too dissimilar. And in terms of having to ensure survival in the Premier League with not much money to spend, Moyes isn’t a million miles from when he came in.

It’s almost as though he has to start again. After 10 years, he is back to point A.

The same problems. The same issues. Although the seasons have gone by, and Moyes has helped engender a great improvement, the last 18 months have seen Everton go backwards.

I don’t think they will be relegated this season, but at present you can’t seen them finishing in the top half of the Premier League.

That’s not good enough. But that’s what Everton are at the moment. Mid-table. Mediocre. Average.

There was more of the same against Blackburn Rovers last Saturday. Everyone seems to have done their homework on Everton at Goodison. A lot of teams have weathered the early 20-minute charge, and if Everton don’t score in that time, they quickly look bereft of ideas.

Who is going to unlock the door? There aren’t too many in the team who can come up with something out of nothing.

Everton aren’t scoring enough goals. And they are struggling to find a route down the flanks; not many goals have come when they have got to the byline and put crosses in.

It looks like everything is coming through the middle, with Everton trying to batter the opposition into submission.

That Marouane Fellaini is even being considered to help the attack again tells you everything. Everton don’t have enough up top.

When you don’t have a prolific striker, you need to open as many avenues as possible to goal. But a lack of width is hurting Moyes’s side.

Everton are missing Seamus Coleman. He stays really wide and spreads teams out, making the pitch bigger.

Moyes has tried everyone out wide – Bilyaletdinov, Gueye, Osman, Drenthe, Anichebe, even Neville. But they aren’t maximising the width of the pitch. Everton huff and puff and like to pound away at central defences, but by doing so they limit their options.

Everton’s goal on Saturday was clearly handball. The referee just didn’t see it. If no-one sees it you can’t give it, and it was tough on Blackburn.

Blackburn’s equaliser was just bizarre.

I don’t think it was a foul and maybe it showed why, while he is a good all-round goalkeeper and great shot-stopper, I’m never totally convinced by Tim Howard on crosses.

Tim Cahill’s opener must have been absolute relief for the Australian. However, the end of his 13-month drought and the performance of Shane Duffy are the only positives Everton can take from the game.

Duffy has proven to Moyes that he can be relied upon, and it could eventually save the Goodison board a few bob or two in this transfer window. But somehow Everton must find the money or the creative nous to bring in a striker by the end of the month.