Amy Lawrence and Paul Doyle discuss Everton's prospects for next season guardian.co.uk

Guardian writers' prediction: 7th (This is not Andy Hunter's prediction, but the average of our writers' tips)

Last season's position: 7th

Odds to win the league: 300-1

There is a stark contrast between the Everton of August 2011 and 2010. Unfortunately for the club's board, although not necessarily David Moyes and his team, it lies in the prevailing mood around Goodison Park where optimism has given way to protest.

This time last year there were no major additions to the senior squad at Everton, merely Jermaine Beckford signed on a free from Leeds United, and the available budget was spent securing Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, Jack Rodwell and Leighton Baines on new long-term contracts. The end result was relief plus a sense that retaining a team who finished the previous campaign so convincingly, losing only twice in its final 24 matches, could challenge for Champions League qualification. It was a view endorsed by Moyes and Sir Alex Ferguson, albeit with a prescient warning from the younger Glaswegian that a lack of a top-class striker could hinder those ambitions.

There are no new signings this summer either, at the time of writing, and Moyes is facing the prospect of a sixth transfer window without a net spend on new players. Everton's last splurge, in the summer of 2009, was funded with the proceeds of Joleon Lescott's £22m sale to Manchester City. Similarly, there have been no major losses despite frequent speculation over Baines and Rodwell plus Arsenal's rejected £12m bid for Phil Jagielka. Arsène Wenger will need to offer at least another £8m before Moyes contemplates parting company with the England international. Same as it ever was? Not quite.

Everton's problems off the field are well documented – owner looking to sell, no genuine offers to buy, old stadium, no plans for a new or redeveloped ground and £45m of debt that, while not excessive by Premier League standards, represents the club's upper limit. The inability to attract new investment after so long, to freshen the squad and to give Moyes genuine hope of winning Everton's first trophy for 17 years next season (the club is currently experiencing the second longest drought in its history – the first includes the hiatus for the second world war) has resulted in several campaigns calling for answers and/or protests against the chairman, Bill Kenwright, and his fellow directors.

This week saw the launch of "The Blue Union", a coalition of supporters groups including Evertonians for Change, Keep Everton in Our City, The People's Group and School of Science 1878, that has voiced concern at, among other things, "the stagnation" of a club that had won more league titles than Manchester United before the inception of the Premier League but has barely warranted mention in the transfer gossip columns this summer. That resentment was audible in the friendly at Birmingham City on Saturday, where there were banners calling for Kenwright to go, but many supporters also accept the futility of such a move without a credible alternative in place. One can read the last edition of the Evertonian fanzine When Skies Are Grey to see the division between those questioning the board's efforts to make the club an attractive investment proposition and those who argue "most fans accept the situation the club finds itself in".

The debate will continue until Everton demonstrate they are not standing still and can meet the ambition of a fine manager who marks a decade in charge at Goodison in March. But, and yes this should be a blog about Everton's prospects on the field next season, the investment/ownership/stadium debate should not be a distraction or excuse for a team who had only themselves to blame for not challenging for Europe last season.

Moyes's team were out of the running before they won a game last term, at the seventh attempt and not until October, but were then unbeaten at home in the league from November and defeated four of the six teams who finished above them in the table (Chelsea, Manchester City home and away, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool). Their consistent failing was unlocking lesser, defensive teams – with Arteta enduring a poor campaign and shouldering too much responsibility until Leon Osman flourished following the sale of Steven Pienaar – and the absence of the proven goalscorer that Moyes had lamented before a ball was kicked.

The latter problem persists and it merely intensified Evertonian worries to hear their manager extolling the virtues of Victor Anichebe this pre-season. Moyes's plan to fund the signing of Charles N'Zogbia from Wigan Athletic through the sales of James Vaughan, Joseph Yobo and Yakubu Ayegbeni floundered due to a lack of takers for the two Nigeria internationals (though both could yet depart). Somewhat surprisingly, given how last season unfolded and with Marouane Fellaini yet to extend a contract with two years remaining, but perhaps because he has not seen the Pienaar money, the Scot has resisted cashing in on a blue-chip player to fund improvements elsewhere.

There remains scope for improvement from this Everton squad and even an astute loan purchase before the transfer deadline, a Daniel Sturridge or an Adam Johnson for example, could reap major dividends. Beckford began to adapt to the demands of a Premier League striker towards the end of last season, Cahill has finally had a summer off and young players such as Seamus Coleman, Magaye Gueye and Apostolos Vellios all progressed. In Ross Barkley, a commanding 17-year-old central midfielder, they have another homegrown talent waiting to step up, although expectation must be checked as he returns from the triple leg fracture suffered last October.

Everton remain the best of the rest. The question being asked is whether that is good enough?