Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley admits his players have lost hope as another AFL loss cast further doubt on his tenure.
A despondent Buckley said he was pragmatic about his future following the Magpies' 37-point loss to Essendon at the MCG on Saturday.
The defeat leaves the Magpies stranded in the bottom four with just five wins and 10 losses, and Buckley admitted it was time to re-frame their ambitions with finals effectively out of the equation.
"It feels like we've reached a bit of a tipping point, to be honest, with the players," Buckley said.
"It was the first time that I'd seen the players look like they'd lost a bit of hope.
"I think there's no doubt ... the win-loss (ratio) stacks up and reality sinks in at some point, for the players in particular.
"The job now is to spend the next 48 hours having a look at how we can possibly refresh, energise, change up a few things, re-frame and give the players something to achieve over the next seven weeks."
Asked about his own future, Buckley said he was "pragmatic but not defeatist" and would continue to focus on improving his team.
The off-contract coach admitted the ongoing speculation about his job had taken a toll on his players.
"They're only human, and there's no doubt that it does impact in some shape or form, but that's the reality and it ain't changing," he said.
"We need to make sure that we understand that, look after the things that we can control and prepare as well as we can for next week."
The Pies face Gold Coast next week before tough clashes against West Coast and Adelaide.
Buckley said some of his charges would be playing for their careers over the remaining seven weeks of the season.
"In the end, our whole football program will have something to say about that," he said.
"We don't want to present like we did today, and we haven't for the large part of the year."
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