Having lost the steadying influence of David Moyes to Manchester United in 2013, there was uncertain times at Goodison Park.
Roberto Martinez almost instantly ended those, though, as the Spanish boss guided the Toffees into the Europa League, with many believing that they should have actually finished in the top four.
But how would they cope with the exertions of playing in Europe and the Premier League?
Here, Sports Mole has taken a closer look at how Everton fared during their 2014-15 campaign.
August
Essentially, every Premier League side will play each other twice over the course of a season, but most managers will admit that a favourable set of fixtures early on can prove to be profitable.
It means that Everton boss Martinez will have been slightly disappointed when he learned that his side faced newly-promoted Leicester City on the opening day, before playing host to London duo Arsenal and Chelsea.
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As it was, a late strike from Chris Wood secured a 2-2 draw for Leicester at the King Power Stadium, before Everton played out the same scoreline against the Gunners at Goodison Park. It would have felt like a loss for Martinez's men, though, because they held a 2-0 lead, only for late strikes from Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud to deny them.
Having conceded four goals in their opening two encounters, the Toffees would then ship six against Chelsea. Although still early days, it was a worrying start to the campaign.
September
With a £28m price tag hanging around his neck, it was vitally important that Romelu Lukaku broke his duck for the season. The Belgian did just that after the international break, opening the scoring in a 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.
It didn't inspire some future positive results, though, as Crystal Palace won 3-2 on Merseyside, while Swansea City recorded a routine 3-0 victory in the League Cup.
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The Europa League also got underway in September, with the Toffees turning on the style at the expense of German side Wolfsburg. Full-backs Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines both got their names on the scoresheet as Martinez's men ran out 4-1 winners.
The month was then brought to an end in memorable fashion. A drab Merseyside derby at Anfield looked to have been won by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, but deep into stoppage time, Everton were rescued by an unlikely source. Some 25 yards from goal, centre-back Phil Jagielka unleashed a rasping effort that flew into the top corner of Simon Mignolet's net to salvage a 1-1 draw.
October
Having thrashed Wolfsburg on matchday one, Everton followed that up in October with consecutive away draws away in Krasnodar and Lille. Although neither clash ended in victory, the Premier League side had put themselves in real contention to secure qualification to the knockout stages.
As well as that, their form also picked up in the Premier League. Late saves from David de Gea secured a 2-1 victory for Manchester United at the expense of the Toffees at Old Trafford. It was an extra costly defeat for Everton because they also lost the services of young defender John Stones to injury.
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Without Stones, Everton recorded their second victory of the campaign against Aston Villa thanks to three unanswered goals and that was then backed up by a 3-1 triumph away at Burnley, with Samuel Eto'o helping himself to a brace.
Such results had lifted Everton up to ninth and just four points adrift of the Champions League places as the season entered November.
November
Everton continued to show consistent and positive form in the Europa League as they booked their place in the last 32 of the competition.
Steven Naismith was among the scorers as Lille were defeated 3-0 at Goodison Park to leave the Toffees on the verge of qualification, which they then secured with an impressive 2-0 victory away in Wolfsburg. It was the Belgian duo of Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas that proved to be the difference in Germany.
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Meanwhile, the month as far as the Premier League was concerned started with disappointing draws against 10-man Swansea and Sunderland respectively.
Next time out, Leon Osman marked his 400th appearance for the club by scoring the winner in a 2-1 triumph over West Ham United, but that was followed by a defeat by the same scoreline away at Tottenham Hotspur. A stunner from Mirallas had given Everton an early lead at White Hart Lane, but Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado hit back.
December
Wins were hard to come by for Martinez's charges over the festive period, with just one being achieved from six Premier League encounters.
A disappointing 1-1 home draw was played out with Hull City, before a Yaya Toure penalty proved to be the difference between the blue half of Merseyside and champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
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Next time out, a 3-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Goodison Park, where Ross Barkley shone in a holding midfield role, suggested that positive form was not too far away, but that was soon eradicated by successive defeats at the hands of Southampton, Stoke City and Newcastle United.
Having already qualified for the knockout stages as group winners, a 1-0 loss to Krasnodar was not a major problem, but heading into 2015, Martinez was bound to be concerned with his side's Premier League displays. After all, they entered January 12 points adrift of the Champions League places.
January
Martinez's worry levels will have cranked up a notch throughout January as he witnessed his team collect just one narrow victory.
It was a miserable January 1 for the Toffees as they slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Hull, who had former Everton striker Nikica Jelavic among the goalscorers.
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That was followed by draws with Man City and West Brom at Goodison Park, which in turn extended Everton's winless run in the Premier League to six matches. What's more, they were only four points above the drop zone.
However, some of the tension was eased courtesy of a 1-0 win over Palace at Selhurst Park, thanks to an early strike from Lukaku. Yet, their luck was out in the FA Cup as West Ham won an entertaining penalty shootout 9-8 in East London.
February
But, while Everton stuttered domestically, they continued to be a force in the Europa League and actually looked like genuine contenders to win the competition.
They faced Swiss outfit Young Boys in the round of 32 and came out of that with an impressive 7-2 victory.
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The Premier League continued to be a source of frustration for all of those connected with Everton, though. The month started with a drab 0-0 Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, before a trip to Stamford Bridge looked to be ending in a useful point, only for Chelsea's Willian to score a late winning goal.
Relegation candidates Leicester were next up, but even they claimed a 2-2 draw from their trip North. In fact, they would have collected all three points but for a late Matt Upson own goal. As the season entered March, Everton were only six points above the drop zone.
March
At the start of March, Everton were thankful that those below them were struggling for form because they certainly were not helping themselves.
Trips to Arsenal and Stoke both ended in 2-0 defeats, while their luck also run out in the Europa League as Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kiev won through 6-4 on aggregate, despite Everton having won the opening leg at Goodison Park.
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But, either side of their exit from European football, their was an upturn in fortunes in the Premier League. A second win in 13 outings was secured at home to Newcastle - a game that included James McCarthy's first goal of the season.
That was then backed up during the trip to Queens Park Rangers, where loanee winger Aaron Lennon, who arrived in January from Spurs, found the net in a 2-1 win.
April
All of a sudden, Everton were one of the Premier League's form sides. Throughout April, Martinez's men collected 10 points from the 12 that were on offer.
A slender 1-0 win over Southampton was followed up by a more than respectable 1-1 draw away at Martinez's former club Swansea City.
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Mirallas then scored the only goal of the contest to seal all three points against 10-man Burnley, but it was certainly a case of leaving the best until last in April.
Man United made the short trip to Goodison Park in good form, but they were blown away by the sort of performance that Everton produced many times last season. Stones was among the goals in a 3-0 win, which ensured that Everton were unbeaten at home in 2015, as well as having won five of their last six Premier League matches.
May
Now looking upwards rather than down, it was expected that between now and the end of the season, Everton would perform with freedom.
That wasn't the case, though, as Aston Villa recorded a 3-2 win over the Toffees at Villa Park, before Sunderland boosted their survival chances by making the trip back to Wearside with a somewhat fortuitous 2-0 win. All of a sudden, the victory over Man United seemed a long time ago for Everton.
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Nevertheless, they responded away at West Ham next time out when Lukaku pounced in stoppage time to secure all three points on the penultimate weekend.
It would be a disappointing end to the season, though, as Spurs won 1-0 at Goodison Park on the final day thanks to a strike from England international Harry Kane.
Liam Apicella
