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St Kilda coach Ross Lyon concedes the criticism directed at him and his players is "valid", saying it is time for the group to respond with action on the field.
The Saints slipped to 14th on the ladder following last week's shock five-point loss to lowly Hawthorn.
St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt took aim at Max King in the wake of the defeat, saying the Saints spearhead was "one-dimensional" and lacked "forward craft".
King has kicked 9.8 this season, while the Saints' average of 74 points per match ranks them 14th in the league.
"We've all got to work on stuff. Is it symptomatic [of the team's struggles]?" Lyon replied when asked about Riewoldt's comments on Thursday.
"Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Unless you're in the four walls — they're the only real opinions that count, to be honest."
Asked whether King needed to work on his forward craft, Lyon said: "I think everyone does.
"I remember Robert Walls, who was one of the great coaches, and Craig Bradley said to him when he went to Carlton, 'Keep coaching me, we all need to keep improving'."
The Saints' finals hopes now appear shot after losing four of their past five matches.
The defeat to Hawthorn was particularly hard to digest, given St Kilda entered the match as strong favourites.
"We were really disappointed. I knew there would be criticism," Lyon said ahead of Saturday night's match with Fremantle at Docklands.
"We were really disappointed with our offence.
"There were a lot of opportunities left on the table that we were really disappointed with.
"I accept the criticism because it's valid. I've said there was a sameness [about us].
"I'm not perturbed, but all there is [now] is action. Everyone does a lot of talking.
"We want to develop our young players, we want to get our senior players in good form. We've been spluttering.
"Ideally, we'd have another one or two wins on the board and I'd be pretty comfortable with all things taken into consideration."
AAP