Everton fans in the Transfer Tavern were again bemoaning their side’s poor run of form after seeing the Toffees go down to Burnley on Sunday.

Ronald Koeman’s side had only three days earlier managed a disappointing 2-2 draw against Cypriot minnows Apollon Limassol in the Europa League, and they were unable to make it back-to-back Premier League victories thanks to Jeff Hendrick’s fine first half strike for the Clarets.

Sean Dyche’s men deservedly took all three points from their visit to Merseyside, and further piled the pressure on Toffees boss Koeman, who is beginning to lose the faith of several of our resident Evertonians.

The Dutchman took over at Goodison Park back in the summer of 2016 and led the club to seventh place in the Premier League last season and, after a summer of big spending, many were hoping that they would push on and sustain a challenge to the top six this time round.

But just two wins from their opening seven league matches suggests anything but, and as such Koeman’s position as manager has been heavily speculated upon, with reports suggesting that he’s close the axe, while others suggest that the Toffees hierarchy are lining up possible replacements, with ex-Watford chief Walter Mazzarri reportedly a possibility.

And after a poor start to the season, here are THREE reasons why Everton should indeed sack Koeman before their next match against Brighton a week on Saturday…

Poor transfer window

Everton may well have spent in excess of £100 million during the transfer window, but it’s fair to say that Koeman oversaw a poor summer of business at Goodison Park.

The Toffees signed Davy Klaassen and Gylfi Sigurdsson, both of whom are number tens and thus fighting for one position, while their answer to replacing Romelu Lukaku was Wayne Rooney, who hasn’t exceeded 20 Premier League since 2012, and Sandro Ramirez, who has had one good season in his career.

And although they brought in Michael Keane at centre-back, it is still an ageing backline and one that needs addressing sooner rather than later.

Ultimately, the club’s poor transfer window is a huge reason why they have struggled so far this term, and as manager Koeman must take responsibility for that.

He can’t seem to end this rut

Everton fans have been bemoaning dour football under Koeman so far this season, and to be honest were fortunate to register wins over Stoke City and Bournemouth.

They had the chance to really end this poor run against minnows Apollon Limassol last week in the Europa League, yet they could only draw 2-2 at Goodison Park. The visit of Burnley also provided an opportunity, and one they didn’t take.

Their fixture list, to start with, was extremely tricky, but since then they’ve had home games against Bournemouth, Apollon, and Burnley, and won only one of them.

That’s simply not good enough, and you wonder whether Koeman is able to inspire the confidence needed to end this rut, and install it back in a side severely bereft of it. It doesn’t look like he can at the moment.

Further away from top six now

Everton finished seventh last season but just nine points behind Manchester United in sixth, and would have hoped, after a summer of big spending, to be bridging the gap on those sides.

Yes, several of them have also spent big, but Everton are now further away than they were back in May.

They had a chance earlier on this season to really prove their credential against those sides, having already faced Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Manchester United, but the manner of the defeats to the latter trio highlights the widening gap.

It was a rough fixture list, but Everton would have gone into this season hoping to compete with those sides, instead they were made to look very ordinary indeed, and certainly no much better than the other 13 teams in the division.

Koeman has to take responsibility for that, which ultimately could cost him his job.