Is Moyes in danger of losing his job?

If there's one manager who's rarely a candidate for an early retirement package from his employers, its David Moyes. After seven seasons in charge of Everton, Moyes has had the kind of board room backing managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger enjoy. But if things don't start improving soon, there's a fair chance Moyes could very well add on to the UK's already high unemployment rate during the course of the current campaign.

Of course, it has be noted that the assumption Moyes is in danger of losing his job because of two consecutive defeats is premature to say the least. Many clubs are traditional late starters and Everton's been one of them over the past few seasons.

But Everton's losses in previous seasons have never been this devastating. A 6-1 thumping at home to Arsenal followed by an equally absymal 1-0 defeat to Premier League newbies, Burnley, seems to suggest, among others, that there is a genuine lack of confidence and quality in Moyes' side. In both fixtures, Everton were outplayed, outpaced and outthought. The only difference was Burnley's poor finishing. If these performances are anything to go by, it's time to push the panic button at Goodison before the Blues fall behind even more.

Making matters worse for Moyes is the loss of England defender, Jolean Lescott, to Man City. I've no idea who he's bringing in as a replacement but he'd better find someone real good this time - the clamatious nature of Everton's defence this season would be something of a spectacle if it was David James and not Time Howard at goal.

Perhaps the loss of Mikel Arteta to injury has cost Everton the creative spark in midfield they so desperately need at the moment. But the fact that there's no one else to step into the Spaniard's shoes in his absence only highlights Moyes' failure to have strenghtened his squad in recent years.

Either way, everything that was going well towards the end of last season for Everton seems to have gone backward at Goodison and Moyes needs his key players like Fellaini and Cahill to step up before they lose too many points and find themselves in the same territory Tottenham found themselves in the first half of last season.

But more importantly, Everton need to get out of this slump quicker than they have in previous seasons if they want to have a real crack at the top four. Otherwise, we can expect a repeat of previous seasons. And while some clubs would consider it an achievement to finish fifth or sixth in the Premier League, it's not good enough for a team that wants to be taken seriously by the big four.