Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley doesn't expect to learn his fate until after the AFL season.
Buckley's future is more clouded than ever after Sunday's loss to Hawthorn condemned the Pies to the bottom four.
With a 5-9 record, Collingwood are a long shot to make the finals with five of their remaining eight games to come against current top-eight sides.
Few expect the off-contract Buckley to retain his job if the Pies miss the finals for a fourth consecutive season.
But the 44-year-old says his focus remains on improving his side rather than the uncertainty surrounding his future.
"I think everyone that's not involved in it would like to know what's going on," he said on Tuesday.
"The reality is that I'm more than happy to let the season play out.
"I think the time for senior leadership discussions is generally in the off-season, and I think that's where they'll take place."
Buckley last year said there was "no way" he would realistically remain Magpies coach if they missed the finals for a fourth consecutive year.
He has since softened his tone, noting that his best 22 included about a dozen players still aged in their early to mid-20s.
But while he expects those players to improve, he declined to say whether he was the right man to develop that talent.
"We're (only) a couple of per cent away in a couple of places, and I can see some really strong buy-in from the young players," Buckley said.
"I'm proud of the club. I love the club but in the end, whatever's best for it is the most important thing.
"Whoever's sitting in the senior coach position will have a responsibility but these young players are making their own careers and they'll continue forward regardless of who's in my chair."
The Pies have finished within a four-goal margin of their opponents in all but one of their losses this season, including an 18-point loss to Essendon in the Anzac Day game.
The two sides will meet again at the MCG on Saturday, with the Bombers desperate to rebound from a dreadful loss to cellar-dwellers Brisbane.
Key Pies forward Darcy Moore is in some doubt after suffering hamstring tightness, with Lachlan Keefe looming as his likely replacement.
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