Nathan Buckley has defended Daniel Wells as a fantastic recruit, while admitting the AFL star had work to do when he joined the club.
Wells has been an intriguing pre-season story, with ongoing speculation about his fitness.
The on-baller, who turns 32 on Friday, only managed two games at North Melbourne in 2015 because of injury.
Since Wells joined the Magpies late last year through free agency, there has been speculation about whether he has been injured.
The Magpies have said they are managing the 243-game veteran, who at his best would give their midfield a massive boost.
On Thursday, the Collingwood coach used Wells as an example when talking about media scrutiny and the AFL.
"He wasn't in match condition when he arrived, but neither were a lot of our other players - that's what a pre-season is for," Buckley told SEN.
"Does that mean he's imperfect, does that mean he's the wrong bloke to get in? Absolutely not.
"He's been fantastic for our group.
"We're not going to advertise the worst of our players, we're going to keep on you about the best of them and there are some pretty good things to acknowledge."
Buckley is pleased with how Wells' pre-season is progressing, saying they are confident the on-baller knows how to prepare himself.
"We're still getting used to him as an athlete and what he needs, he's still getting used to us as a footy club and what our game plan is asking," he said.
"He's in pretty good shape now, getting a lot of footy work in and heading in the right direction."
Also on Thursday, Buckley stood by his comments last August that he would struggle to retain his job if Collingwood failed to make the finals this season.
The Magpies have finished out of the top eight for the past three seasons.
"It was an accurate reflection of where we were and where we're at," he said.
"We expect to play finals ... invariably the senior coach is the guy who needs to pull it all together, so I absolutely take responsibility for that."
Buckley added that they would use former Fremantle player Chris Mayne as a defensive forward, while GWS recruit Will Hoskin-Elliott had impressed after "paddling" early in the pre-season.
He also revealed recruit Callum Brown, the son of Collingwood legend Gavin, was recovering from glandular fever.
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