Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has accepted that he will always face his share of critics.
The Pies have slipped further down the ladder each year under Buckley and he faces considerable pressure in 2018 despite signing a two-year extension with the club.
But the 2003 Brownlow Medallist says being under the microscope is nothing new.
“Always,” Buckley told SEN’s Whateley, when asked if he feels people are waiting for him to fail.
“That really is an external story. The external story about Collingwood has been really consistent.
“I was just reading the Herald Sun this morning, looking at the briefs on all the teams, and the challenge is about the coach.
“You read all the other challenges and there is nothing about the coach. Our challenge isn’t my challenge.
“It is something we share together and our challenge is to play our brand of football more consistently.”
Buckley reassured his players how important it was to ignore the outside noise and stay focused on this season and their game plan.
“We can fall into the external commentary and narrative, or we can tell our story as strongly and consistently as possible,” he said.
“Generally, the thing that has the most cut through are the results and performance.
“Everything else is irrelevant. Jonathan Brown’s comments about our training is irrelevant. Anyone’s opinion on how we handled Jordan De Goey’s circumstance is irrelevant.
“Whether it is fair or not is not relevant. It never has been and it never will, because it is not going to stop. “I’ve come to accept that.
“The only thing that is relevant is what we know internally, to understand our strengths and execute them, and to put them on show and display.”
Collingwood opens their 2018 campaign against Hawthorn on Saturday night at the MCG.
