There was a tense moment in the Swansea City press room on Tuesday night.
After another dismal defeat at the hands of Stoke City, which was greeted with boos at full-time, it was suggested by one journalist that Russell Martin's players had lost confidence, run out of steam and, ultimately, had perhaps started to lose faith in his methods.
The Swans boss hit back, labelling it a "lazy assessment" that was disrespectful to the hard work the players were putting in behind the scenes.
"Saying the players are lacking in confidence and belief is one thing, but to say they're not convinced in what we're doing with how hard they run and stuff like that is really disappointing," Martin said.
"It's a lazy assessment in my opinion. It actually makes me quite angry because I know how hard the players work and how convinced they are in everything."
Perhaps he's right, but lazy assessments can still carry some bite, and Martin's admission that "no one cares about the bigger picture" suggests deep down he knows that.
The stats are certainly damning.
Swansea have won just four of their last 20 games, and three of those victories came against teams with 10 men.
Only Queens Park Rangers have a worse recent record, and they made the decision to part with their manager as a result.
Some may understandably feel Martin's current run is worthy of the same fate.
His point about Arsenal reaping the rewards for sticking by Mikel Arteta and Chelsea's decision to stand by former Swans boss Graham Potter felt like a thinly-veiled plea to remember the 'Trust the Process' mantra that has defined his managerial career so far.
It also created the picture of a man very much under pressure, and this latest defeat at the hands of Stoke City appeared to follow a grimly predictable script that has dogged Swansea's season.
After a bright start, Swansea's game management was poor, their passing sloppy, and their defence about as resilient as a wet poppadom.
Indeed, the last point is especially worrying, with Swansea now carrying the joint-worst defensive record in the league. It's a crisis that embodies their season so far and simply has to be a key priority going forward.
Certainly there are things to work on when they return to the training ground. The chaos that unfurled for Stoke's opener from a corner certainly backed up his claim his side are vulnerable from set-pieces.
There are too many individual errors, too. Too many defenders simply aren't looking after the ball well enough. On this occasion, Nathan Wood's wayward pass from the back sparked the move that ultimately resulted in Stoke's second.
Moments like that have been far too common this season and Martin has to find a way around that if he's to turn things round and get fans back onside.
Does that perhaps require a different way of playing? Maybe.
Certainly there's a feeling that Martin's style and approach leave Swansea far too open at times. If you're setting yourself up to play against this Swans side, you can do so safe in the knowledge that you'll get at least one good opportunity to score.
To win games, it feels like Swansea have to execute their game plan to an immaculate and sometimes unachievable level.
When it goes right, it creates some truly wonderful football, but it leaves precious little in terms of margin for error.
'Winning ugly' is just not in this team's DNA at the moment and, in the Championship, that's a problem.
Martin's within his rights to point out the youth of this squad. It's clearly a mitigating circumstance as inexperience makes it harder to execute his masterplan and he has no complaints over the overall effort from his players.
But he has to admit that results lately simply haven't been good enough, although their problems run deeper than those on the pitch.
The farcical debacle of the January window has left a deep and lasting hangover. To fail in strengthening this young squad was criminal given a top-six finish was clearly there for the taking.
Even the decision to bring back Morgan Whittaker felt a little bizarre.
It seemed obvious the forward was keen to keep progressing at Plymouth Argyle. And Martin didn't really seem overly enthusiastic about bringing him back.
Indeed, had Rangers got their act together and offered a suitable financial package, he'd more than likely be settling into life in Glasgow right about now.
It's one of several decisions that point to a lack of real joined-up thinking.
The collapse of Karlan Grant's move was clearly out of Swansea's hands, but the reality is it shouldn't have been left to the last minute anyway.
The result is an unbalanced squad in desperate need of experience and that is beginning to show.
Worryingly, it could yet get worse.
Martin confirmed this week that Ryan Manning is set to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, while there is still uncertainty over the future of Joel Latibeaudiere.
Even Martin himself has seemingly been left in limbo with his own contract.
After the defeat to the Potters, he spoke about the ambitious three-pronged brief that was handed to him when he took the job.
Develop young players, bring back the 'Swansea Way' and push for the play-offs.
Any potential success in delivering on those aims was always going to require everyone singing off the same hymn sheet.
But if the hierarchy can't even offer any clarity on the head coach's future, it doesn't exactly suggest they've fully bought into it all - and that attitude seeps down to the playing staff on the ground.
All added up, it risks being a case of death by a thousand cuts and Martin cannot count on the sympathy and understanding of fans if what was previously a promising season ultimately fizzles out.
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