ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson has lashed out at Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton over his "incredibly disrespectful" treatment of Saints veteran Leigh Montagna.
Brereton dissected the underperforming team, now 12th with a 5-6 record, and Montagna's place in it in a News Corporation column on Friday.
He criticised Montagna's kicking coming out of defence and questioned his future beyond this season, but raised the ire of Richardson when he wrote, "There's a joke around the league that the hardest contested ball Montagna will fight for is against a teammate to take the kick-in after a behind."
Montagna revealed he had called Brereton to discuss what he felt was a cheap shot and his coach backed him up on Monday night.
"I thought it was incredibly disrespectful," Richardson said on Fox Footy.
"Joey's been such an outstanding performer for a very long time ... when that (criticism) comes from someone like Dermott ... I thought it was really poor.
"And I think Joey's been on record to say that he's OK with people having a go at his footy and challenging where he's at from a footy perspective.
"Joey's been a pretty strong performer for us this year ... he's had a bad game.
"The club had a bad game, you could pick out many players who didn't perform well, but I thought it was pretty poor form by Dermott."
Montagna, 33, is expected to meet with the club to discuss his future before the end of the month.
Richardson also said his team was "playing not to lose as opposed to playing to win as it battled to end a three-game losing streak.
Much was expected of the Saints this season after a patient rebuild under Richardson, with making the finals for the first time since 2011 a widely-held expectation.
"There's a bit of our footy not working and there's also a bit of just not enough guys in the sort of form we need," Richardson said on Fox Footy on Monday night.
"You go through (the team) and there's just not enough players playing the sort of footy we need them to play for the way that we want to play to work."
The Saints are part of a logjam of teams fighting to secure a spot in the lower reaches of the top eight in a very even season.
Richardson must help his players rediscover their aggression and spirit to climb back up the ladder.
"I reckon what's crept in a little bit is playing not to lose as opposed to playing to win," he said.
"Being bold and being aggressive is not about whacking into someone, it's about leaving your man to go and support your mates as opposed to being conservative and hoping your man doesn't get the footy.
"It's about forwards being really aggressive in the way that they reset so that we've got something to kick to.
"It's about midfielders being really strong and bold and getting to the next contest to help us outnumber and set up our shape."
