Recently by Mark O'Brien

EARLIER this season, who would have envisioned Everton kicking themselves for only taking one point from The Emirates?

Not only that, but who foresaw David Moyes's team coping almost effortlessly without their Nigerian contingent?

Hardly anyone has menioned the loss of Joseph Yobo and Ayegbeni Yakubu to the African Cup of Nations - although it doesn't actually look like it's going to last too much longer judging by their performance against Egypt at Tuesday teatime.

THE 'dead rubber' is something of a novel concept at Goodison, which unfortunately is just an indication of how little European football we've played for a club of our stature.

Still, tonight's final group game against BATE promises to be a muted experience, especially as it's combined with that other European quirk, the alcohol ban.

The whole evening promises to be a throwback to the heady days of the Simod, Full Members and Zenith Data System Cups, with the tiny crowd only kept awake by the voices of the players on the pitch.

JACK RODWELL has made some noises about Everton avenging their heaviest-ever European defeat, and Phil Neville believes that Benfica are in for a bit of a rude awakening at Goodison tonight, but in all honesty this Europa League game doesn't really seem to have captured the fans' imagination as much as it might.

Perhaps it's the very fact that even if the Portuguese triumph over David Moyes's team again, there are still another six points up for grabs in Athens and at home to BATE; so qualification to the next stage is well within Everton's grasp, regardless of the outcome this evening.

It's also difficult to work up any animosity towards Benfica, even after they stuck five goals past Tim Howard in the Stadium of Light. The fact of the matter is they couldn't help themselves.

THREE games in six days.

Ten goals conceded in three games. No win in five matches.

Fourteenth place in the league. Out of one cup.

They are pretty damning statistics, and the only real mitigating number is 11: which represents the amount of senior players unavailable to David Moyes during a week where a season that's been waiting to kick into life has instead ground to a shuddering halt.

NORMALLY we bemoan the seemingly endless international breaks that disrupt the start of every season and prevent everyone, players and supporters, from getting into their groove properly.

No rhythm or pattern develops and it's hard to work out how good new signings look or get any indication of how the season is going to pan out when the games come along in awkward clumps.

However, in this instance, with Everton suffering so many injuries, the two-week hiatus looks like it might have been a Godsend.

IF it wasn't for the fact that the bad weather kept the numbers down, and also that none of the Manchester United supporters probably had a clue who he was, Jose Baxter might have expected a degree of barracking from the away contingent at Widnes on Tuesday night.

After being bailed that morning following an arrest on charges concerning drugs and forged money, a more high-profile player would have at least faced the odd taunt or zany chant.

NORMALLY around this time of year we implore David Moyes to field his strongest side in the Carling Cup, what with it representing a great chance to win some silverware and all the rest of it.

However, with the guaranteed games in the Europa League this year, and crucial points to be won in the Premier League at the weekend, all but the most traditional 'play your strongest side at all times' advocates will cut the Everton manager some slack if he tries to rest a few players for the trip to the KC Stadium tonight for a tie that is as underwhelming as it's possible to get at this stage of the competition - at least since Middlesborough were relegated anyway.

LAST month, the decent results against the hapless Sigma Olomouc acted as a salve, easing the pain of the raw results inflicted by both Arsenal and Burnley.

So following another dreadful domestic performance, this time at Craven Cottage, Evertonians are hoping that Europe can once again provide some light relief in what's been a rather grim week.

AEK Athens promise to be more formidable than the men from the Czech Republic, and given Everton's present problems the Greeks must be quietly confident of emulating their countrymen, Panathinaikos, who infamously upset Harry Catterick's team by dumping them out of the European Cup in 1971.

WHEN friendlies against Bury are being announced with a fanfare you know that things really are quite slow on the whole transfer front.

It can be argued that apart from a few very profile deals, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, very few Premier League clubs have done much business yet.

The perceived wisdom is that managers tend to enjoy a few weeks off in the sun and for the summer tournaments to end and then one key deal kicks off the so-called transfer merry-go-round.

At the moment, with most clubs keeping their powder dry, there's no way of knowing who might outbid you for any of your preferred targets.

THE FA Cup final already seems a long time ago now, as preparations begin for next season. Everton have secured Joseph Yobo, Tim Howard and Phil Jagielka on extended deals and there is also talk of Steven Pienaar signing an improved contract too.

As ever, these stories tend to develop in a convoluted manner, with the little South African politely answering questions about Spanish football and stressing that he is happy at Everton, which was then mischievously interpreted as a 'come and get me plea' to Atletico Madrid.

There is a feeling that many of the transfer stories concerning Everton are just rehashed ones from last summer, so perhaps someone somewhere has simply substituted Pienaar's name for Mikel Arteta's, seeing as the injured Spanish schemer tends be on the brink of a move to the Spanish capital's second club every time the transfer window opens.

Once again Rennes' Stephane M'Bia seems to think he's got an open invitation to join Everton, and if the Cameroon international plays as well as he talks then David Moyes is mad not to move heaven and earth to bring him to Goodison.