Perhaps we were wrong to laugh at Martinez and his Champions League dream for unbeaten Toffees...

Speaking at the press conference in early June to announce his appointment as Everton’s new manager, Roberto Martinez spelled out his ambitions.

The time had come to take Everton to the next level claimed the former Wigan boss. ‘The aim for Everton should be to get into the Champions League,’ declared the articulate Spaniard.
‘We want to be involved in Europe and the Champions League, and we have to have the dream to fight for.’

Who's laughing now: Roberto Martinez, pictured alongside chairman Bill Kenwright during his unveiling as Everton manager in June, was laughed at for suggesting the Toffees could challenge the top four

Eyebrows, it is fair to say, were raised at such a lofty target being set – especially from a manger who, despite winning plaudits for the eye-catching football he brought to Wigan, had spent much of his career at the DW Stadium battling relegation.

And surely a pipe dream for a club that had needed to rely on the considerable management skills of David Moyes, the man chosen to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, to ensure they punched above their weight on a shoe-string budget season after season.
In all his years of miracle working at Goodison, Moyes had, after all, guided Everton to the Champions League only once. That brief flirtation ended almost as soon as it had begun.

All smiles: Martinez and Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew share a joke ahead of Everton's 3-2 victory on Monday night

'The aim for Everton should be to get into the Champions League' - Roberto Martinez, June, 2013

After qualifying for Europe’s top competition by coming fourth in 2005, they fell at the first hurdle courtesy of a controversial defeat over two legs to eventual semi-finalists Villarreal.
Since then Everton had seemingly found their level - that being solid top-half finishes with Europa League qualification the prize.

Matching such a record would surely be task enough for Martinez rather than eclipsing the superb work of his predecessor.

Cast an eye at the Barclays Premier League table today and Martinez’s Everton sit proudly amongst the top four, just three points of leaders Arsenal and boasting the only unbeaten record in the division.

Extremely early days of course, but few would have believed Martinez’s Everton would be eclipsing Moyes’s Manchester United despite the mammoth task the latter has on his hands at Old Trafford and even with the season still in its infancy.

Plenty to ponder: Former Everton boss David Moyes sees his new club, Manchester United, currently eight places below the Toffees in the Premier League table

Martinez has a lot to thank Moyes for, of course, when it comes to putting the foundations in place. But there is no doubt the added flair Martinez has brought from first Swansea, through Wigan and on to Everton has gone down extremely well with both players and fans at Goodison.
The mainstays of Moyes’s Everton team, such as Tim Howard, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin, Leon Osman and Leighton Baines have not missed a beat despite the change of manger and consequently style of play.

Indeed, the considerable coup of persuading Baines not to follow Moyes to Manchester may just prove to be the best piece of business Martinez did all summer.

That said, there will be those who would argue selling Marouane Fellaini to United on transfer deadline day and replacing him with Gareth Barry on loan from Manchester City may yet transpire to be an even shrewder move.

Best foot forward: Ross Barkley slots home Everton's second against Newcastle

Double trouble: Romelu Lukaku slips by Tim Krul before adding his second of the game

Net gains: Lukaku smashes home from close range

Celebration time: Kevin Mirallas congratulates Lukaku following his strike

Goal scoring has been an issue that has ebbed and flowed at Everton over the years, the fact Fellaini, a midfielder, was their top scorer last season is testament to that fact.

But bringing in Romelu Lukaku is already looking like a masterstroke on Martinez’s part and a major blunder by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho for letting arguably his best striker leave.

Fellaini may have been the top scorer at Everton but Lukaku is already sixth favourite to finish campaign as the leading marksmen in the Premier League after just one start.

Kevin Mirallas is proving to be the player Moyes hoped he would be now that he has shaken off the niggling injuries to become an ever-present for Martinez so far.

But it is the form of Ross Barkley which singling out the young midfielder as the Martinez’s most prized inheritance from the previous regime.

Blue order: Lukaku and Barkley have been two of the early-season stars for Everton

Who knows whether Barkley would have made such a startling impact under Moyes and the decision to send him out on loan to first Sheffield Wednesday and then Leeds last season my certainly have provided benefits that Martinez is now reaping.

But the fact remains that Barkley already looks like one of the most exciting English prospects for many a year, his form having earned him his first senior cap for his country, and Martinez is determined to let a player he describes as ‘a diamond’ free rein to express himself and become the heartbeat of Everton’s midfield.
Add to that the fact that James McCarthy is now starting to find his feet after following his manager from Wigan to Everton and Martinez’s claim’s he could  move Everton up a notch perhaps are not so fanciful after all.

There will be bumps along the way of course. Despite dominating Newcastle they still managed to let in two goals and such potentially costly porousness is usually an inevitable consequence of added adventure.
But Everton, on the evidence so far, look like a side capable of giving any team a run for their money.

Gone: Marouane Fellaini, pictured being chased by Yaya Toure during Manchester United's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City, left Everton for a club-record fee in September

In fairness to Martinez, his prediction that Champions League football is the aim for Everton came supported by the caveat that it was unlikely to be achieved this season.

But with a campaign already shaping up to be the most fiercely contested at the top for many a season there is every chance one of the usual suspects will not be playing Champions League football next year.
Will that be Manchester United and can Everton sustain their challenge? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, Martinez is finding the transition to the next stage of his managerial career a whole lot less troublesome than the man he replaced.