Everton entered the 2012-13 campaign with renewed hopes of a return to European football after three years without it.
To help them achieve this goal, long-serving manager David Moyes was unusually busy during the summer transfer window, bringing in the likes of Steven Naismith, Steven Pienaar, Kevin Mirallas and Bryan Oviedo.
Tim Cahill brought his eight-year stay at the club to an end, moving to New York Red Bulls, while the prospect of playing for the Premier League champions enticed Jack Rodwell to a big-money move to Manchester City.
With half of the season now gone, Sports Mole takes a look at whether Everton are on course for a return to European football next season.
August
Everton began the season in the best possible way, beating Manchester United 1-0 in the opening weekend of the Premier League courtesy of Marouane Fellaini's goal.
Five days later, the Toffees continued their perfect start to the season with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa, before an emphatic 5-0 win over Leyton Orient in the League Cup completed a fine opening month of the season for David Moyes's men.
September
Everton missed the chance to make it 12 games without defeat in the league, stretching back to last season, when they fell to a 2-0 defeat to surprise package West Bromwich Albion.
A 2-2 draw with Newcastle and a 3-0 win over Swansea followed for Everton, lifting them up to second in the league, but they were brought down to earth with a bump as Championship side Leeds United knocked them out of the League Cup in the third round.
They ended the month on a high, however, beating Southampton 3-1 to continue their impressive league form.
October
October was a distinctly average month for the blue half of Merseyside, as they drew all three games in it.
The Toffees drew away to relegation candidates Wigan Athletic and Queens Park Rangers, before sharing the bragging rights in the Merseyside derby with local rivals Liverpool as they drew 2-2 having been 2-0 down after just 20 minutes.
November
November began with yet another draw for the Toffees, this time against Fulham courtesy of a 90th-minute equaliser, but they soon rediscovered their winning ways with a 2-1 triumph over Sunderland in David Moyes's 400th league game in charge of the club.
This was followed by a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Reading before two draws of contrasting quality. The first, against Norwich, saw Everton concede another 90th-minute equaliser, while they had to overcome a goal in the first minute against Arsenal to draw 1-1.
December
Everton began the final month of the year with a respectable draw away to Manchester City before scoring two goals in second-half stoppage time to beat Tottenham Hotspur in a dramatic match at Goodison Park.
Fellaini was named as the Player of the Month for November but, just a few days later, grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons due to an alleged headbutt in Everton's 1-1 draw with Stoke, an action that Moyes condemned.
The Toffees came from behind again to beat West Ham 2-1 in their final game before Christmas, while they beat Wigan by the same scoreline on Boxing Day to leave them fifth in the Premier League table.
Barney Corkhill
