Frank Lampard has been warned that he could live to regret the "very dangerous" comments he made after Everton's 4-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.
The Toffees were humiliated at Selhurst Park on Sunday and now only have Premier League survival to focus on for the rest of the season. Lampard's struggling side sit just three points and one place above the relegation zone, with a huge trip to Burnley - four points below them - coming up on April 6.
Post-match on Sunday, Lampard questioned whether his team have "the b******* to play," and questioned the ability of some of his players to play "cut-throat" football. His comments on his side's failings have led to a warning from Chris Sutton, who believes it may have been unwise to hammer his side in such a brutal manner.
"The team are in an absolute mess but his language was extremely strong, questioning the side's courage," the former Blackburn and Chelsea striker said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "He talked about [how] he doesn't have a magic wand to get inside people's heads and change resilience across the whole squad. Well, is that not his job? When you look at what Eddie Howe has done at Newcastle United there has been a noticeable change.
"He was chucking things out there and I wonder whether he will regret some of the things he said because I think it can be damaging within the dressing room. It's not a good dressing room at this moment in time but [when] you start questioning players' courage, I think that there may be a problem.
"He's come out and slaughtered his players and yet he needs these players to keep him up, so what he said is very, very dangerous in my book. It's a big gamble what he said and let's see whether the players react. From the outside, people may be looking at players who he has recruited, who haven't hit the ground running, and thinking he could have done much better."
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Everton face an almightily battle to stay in the top flight, having dropped closer to the danger zone since replacing the unpopular Rafa Benitez with Lampard. Their meeting with Burnley shortly after the international break is followed by games against Manchester United and Liverpool and preceded by a trip to West Ham.
Their 1-0 win at home to Newcastle last week provided a much-needed boost, but Lampard insists that his players must change if they are to beat the drop.
"I don't have a magic wand to get inside people's heads and change resilience across the whole squad. That's a work in progress," Toffees boss admitted. "The difficult thing for us is that we don't have lots of time in terms of the league to do that. My job title is quite vast as a manager, but to get inside heads and change that with the flick of a switch is not possible.
"As frustrating as it is for me, as frustrating as it is for the 4,000 fans who travelled down and the people watching [at home], that's one we have to fight against." Lampard, apologising for his use of vulgar language, then added: "There's a balance of confidence and playing at the cut-throat end of football here.
"This is a quarter-final today to get to Wembley and if you haven't got the confidence to play, you can quickly flip it and say, have you got the b******* to play? That's the football reality. If you fall somewhere in the middle, then don't worry about it."
