Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says he and his players are crystal clear on what they have to do to turn around their fortunes.
He's been accused of destroying the game but Fremantle coach Ross Lyon doesn't care what AFL greats Kevin Bartlett and Mark McLure have to say about his defensive game plan.
Lyon insists it's not time to panic despite his team's worrying form slump, claiming he and his players are crystal clear on the areas they need to improve following back-to-back thumpings at the hands of Hawthorn and West Coast.
The Dockers have been heavily criticised by fans, past players and the media over the past fortnight, with Lyon's defensive tactics coming under particular scrutiny.
Carlton legend McLure accused Lyon of destroying the game with his ugly, shut-down tactics.
Lyon said he didn't want to dignify that claim with a response.
But he was more forthcoming when asked about Bartlett's view that Fremantle had become "unwatchable".
"Kevin's been banging on for a long time. I wish when the teams I coach played great football the headlines were as loud," Lyon said.
"At the end of the day there's a lot of minnows out there that like to get heard above the pack, and there's clearly some heavy hitters in journalism that have an opinion.
"You guys are trying to get heard. How do you do that? I don't think you get heard if you're vanilla.
"Everyone's entitled to their opinions.
"There's clearly some unbalanced and sensationalist views. At the end of the day we're 5-4, we've played some great footy and we're really determined."
Lyon said he hadn't been overly affected by the growing wave of criticism, saying he had been in a "vacuum" while he attended his day-to-day family duties.
But with the 10th-placed Dockers facing tough games against Adelaide, Richmond (MCG), Essendon (home) and Collingwood (MCG) over the next month, the pressure on Lyon could reach boiling point should results not improve.
