David Schwarz thinks some Collingwood players probably hate Nathan Buckley

NOTHING seems to be going right for Collingwood this year, and Nathan Buckley’s been copping it more than most.

Buckley’s had a rough start to 2016.

AS LEBRON James famously tweeted earlier this year: “Love me or hate me, but at the end of the day you will respect me.”

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley might be thinking of expressing a similar sentiment to his troops, only without the “love” bit.

He’s faced mounting pressure in 2016 as Collingwood faces the prospect of missing out on the finals for the third straight year — a result that would surely spell the end of his time at the helm. The Pies sit 12th after 11 rounds with just four wins, and suffered a heavy defeat at home to Port Adelaide on Sunday.

Their poor run has led many to question whether the embattled coach has lost the support of the dressing room, and whether Buckley has any hope of turning the club’s fortunes around.

Former Melbourne Demon David Schwarz thinks the notion of whether players like their coach or not is irrelevant. What does matter is respect — something he thinks Buckley still commands.

“It doesn’t matter who your coach is, individuals will accept it whether they like him or not,” Schwarz said on SEN radio on Monday.

Have the players lost faith in Buckley?

“Within any team there’s 40 on the list and at any time there are 22 that like the coach because they’re getting a game, there are five that couldn’t give a stuff and there’s probably 10 or 15 sitting there going, ‘I hate this bloke.’

“It’s just the fact of the environment you’re in — the good coaches though, you may not be liked but you’re still respected.

“I would say Bucks is respected by his team, just like a Lukey Beveridge (Western Bulldogs coach) would be or any coach along the way, it’s the respect side of it.”

The beefy forward then reflected on his time with the Dees under coach Neale Daniher, saying he never liked his former mentor but still respected him.

“You don’t have to like your coach. I never liked Neale Daniher as a coach, yet I respected him as much as any coach that I’ve had in my life — he was one beast, I was a different beast,” said Schwarz.

“You don’t have to like your coach, but having respect for him is a different matter.”

One man who has every right not to be Buckley’s biggest fan right now is Travis Cloke. The tall forward injured himself in Collingwood’s round four loss to Melbourne, resulting in some time spent on the sidelines, but when he returned to full fitness, Buckley refused to pick him in the senior side.

Travis Cloke’s been down on form and confidence.

Cloke recently said he didn’t agree with Buckley’s assessment that he had lost his “thirst” for the contest.

“I don’t accept it, no,” Cloke said last month on radio station RSN 927.

“But I can probably see where he was coming from. He said I wasn’t hard enough in the contest, which didn’t resonate very well with me and I wasn’t very happy with (that).

“Over my career, I’ve been pretty solid and that’s one thing I’ve been pretty good with. He’s the coach — you accept what he says, you take it on board and you go back and try and improve that area.”

He was recalled to the firsts for the loss to the Power, where he picked up 13 disposals and took six marks but failed to kick a goal.

“He’s just bereft of confidence and every time he went for the ball he didn’t put his arms up,” Schwarz said.

“He’s not the Travis Cloke that was taking marks, leading, using his strength and commanding.

“When he did have an opportunity to shoot at goal he looked to pass, he was half the player that he was — not confident.”

Originally published as David Schwarz thinks some Collingwood players probably hate Nathan Buckley