Beleaguered Essendon coach Matthew Knights insists his job is safe and he's rejected a call from former Bombers champion Matthew Lloyd for a thorough review of the club's football department.
Fronting the media at Windy Hill on Tuesday morning in the wake of last Saturday's humiliating loss to bottom side West Coast - the Bombers' sixth-straight defeat - Knights said he wasn't prepared to engage in 'nonsense' about his future.
Asked whether he believes his job is in jeopardy, Knights, who is contracted until the end of 2012 replied firmly, "No".
"I've got no thought of engaging in that type of thought process, it just doesn't enter my thoughts."
"Whether I will be coaching or won't be coaching, that's out of my control."
"I'm here to work with the players and where we're going as a football club."
Knights was quick to dismiss Lloyd's call for an overhaul of the football department, similar to what occurred at Geelong at the end of 2006 which was credited for helping to pave the way for two premierships over the next three seasons.
"We review every year," Knights said.
"Let's not get carried away."
"If you want to make a headline about that you can, but they happen at every club every year the reviews and any club worth its salt will review, even the teams that have had success in that year."
Knights declined to respond to ongoing criticism of his appointment through the media from the man he succeeded, Kevin Sheedy, the coach of Greater Western Sydney and the president of the AFL coaches association.
He said he would leave it up to the AFLCA's chief executive Danny Frawley to determine whether it was appropriate for the association's president to be constantly knocking one of its members.
"The coaches association is there for support of fellow coaches in good times, hard times, so that's what the coaches association has been set up for," he said.
Knights wasn't prepared to put a time frame on the Bombers' turnaround, but said he was confident that they could salvage something from the last six weeks of the premiership season.
"It's really important that we play with a little bit more dare and we get some respect back in the way we're playing our football," said Knights.
"That's the most important thing."
"The wins will be a by-product of that better football."
"We're all very confident about where the group's headed."
"Sure at the moment it's a tough period we're in and the reality is, at the moment we're not good enough to win football games."
"We're constantly looking from week to week for different ideas and different ways to regenerate the group and keep the spirits up."
Knights said the Bombers were not likely to make wholesale changes for Saturday night's clash with North Melbourne and he expects skipper Jobe Watson to be available despite reports that he's carrying a lower leg injury.