St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has had a tough start in his new job but don't expect him to be fazed, Martin Blake reports.

ROD Butterss went to a meeting of senior people at Moorabbin this week and found his coaching staff upbeat. Surprisingly so, perhaps.

From a distance, a supporter might have expected a more sombre mood than what the president discovered.

St Kilda is a moderate 2-3 and has a chunk of its back six unavailable through injury, not to mention the untimely addition of prized midfielder Lenny Hayes to the absentee list. Carlton at Telstra Dome tonight is plainly no "gimme" for the Saints.

During the week, coach Ross Lyon publicly blamed poor management — rather than bad luck — for the injury troubles that have continued this season. It was an unusual admission for an AFL coach, in a culture that eschews the idea of blaming anything or anyone else.

It also appeared on one level to point an accusing finger at past administrations at St Kilda, and could have been interpreted as the football equivalent of the government that comes to power, only to announce the discovery of a black hole in the budget created by its dastardly predecessor.

All of which raised the eyebrows of a few people, including Age commentator Robert Walls, one of the panel that helped choose Lyon for the job last year.

But upon consideration, Walls came around to the view that it was just Lyon being Lyon. Brutal, honest and uncompromising, just as he played for Fitzroy (and briefly Brisbane) through 130-odd games.

"He's just being honest," said Walls yesterday. "Look, I thought about it. In my day, I probably wouldn't have done that. 'I'm not going to blame anyone or say anything.' But there's no histrionics.

"It's, 'The program hasn't been good and I've copped the legacy. There's not much we can do at the moment. We'll have to wait until next summer and that's the facts'."

Lyon himself said at the time that he was not pointing a finger; merely stating the facts. Butterss also was at pains this week to dismiss the idea that Lyon was passing any buck.

"Ross Lyon has gone to great lengths to compliment the previous football administration," he said. "Notwithstanding that, you cannot argue with the facts and the facts weren't so much a reflection on the previous administration as they were on the status of events today.

"It's a case of building on the improved performances of the St Kilda Football Club over the past five years, and taking the next step. There is no attempt to point the finger. I say this quite sincerely. There is only every respect for what was achieved. It's a case of: 'We're still not the best we can be. What have we got to do to be the best we can be?' "

Lyon sometimes begins his sentences with the phrase, "The reality is …" It's one of his favourite expressions. Another is "controllables". Like Denis Pagan, one of his previous mentors, he likes to shut out the extraneous issues that can railroad people in an emotional game such as football.

Three years under the undemonstrative Paul Roos at Sydney may have left him immune to panic or, at the other end of the scale, getting ahead of himself.

When reporters asked him on the eve of round one this season whether he felt nerves about coaching his first game, he cut them off at the pass: "I'm sure the goal posts are going to be there. I looked at the MCG Hall of Fame and it looked exactly the same as when I left it on September 23 … and all the practice games really resembled Australian rules football to me, the same as I have been involved in since I was 16. So unless you know something I don't know, I think I'll be OK."

Theoretically, he is under more pressure this week than he has seen in his dozen or so years in coaching as an assistant under the likes of Walls, Roos and David Parkin. But according to Butterss, you would never have known it.

"He's cool in the crisis, he's very matter-of-fact. He's a very good planner and organiser. He can focus his mind and the playing group's minds on where they need to be."

Walls says that past experience will help. Lyon is a first-year head coach but nobody's idea of a novice. It is just that his profile has been low through that decade of back-room work at Carlton, Sydney and Richmond. "It's not as though he's 32 and a first-year coach," Walls said. "He's been around the game a long time and he knows how the system works."

Walls believes that as much as St Kilda's sluggishness can be attributed to injuries, the change in game plan under Lyon will be having an impact, too.

Lyon preaches accountability, particularly in midfield, and Walls believes St Kilda has a couple of "downhill skiers" in that area. "But they're running a marathon, not a sprint. There's every chance they'll get into the eight, the bottom half of the eight, and who knows from there?

"He'll be looking long-term. He's there for three years. 'This year might not pan out, but it puts us in a better situation for 2008. That's not to say we can't win eight of the last 10 and finish up sixth or something.' "

As for Butterss, it is all about St Kilda's improvement as a club. "Blind Freddie can work out that we've had (injury) issues over the past few years, probably since '04. There's no doubt in order to be competitive in September, you need the vast majority of best players on the park with a good run of games under their belt. History will tell you that.

"Historically, we've undertaken steps to eradicate this issue. With anything we do, we want to try to position ourselves in the top quartile, that is, in the top two or three clubs, whether it's on-field, off-field, financial or otherwise. For example, I think we're ranked third or fourth of Melbourne-based clubs on membership. You're at least in the game.

"That's the minimum objective with everything we do. But if you look at the statistics, we're in the bottom quartile and possibly at the bottom of the list in terms of recurring soft-tissue injuries.

"We put our hand up as a club and recognise that we have a problem. That's the most important aspect, is recognising that we have one."