Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas doubts the AFL side is soft, but described Sunday's dismal loss to Brisbane as "terrible".

Current coach Ross Lyon was calm after the 46-point loss at the `Gabba, but did not mince his words as he said "a few" players were mentally and physically soft.

The Saints are still in touch with the top eight on a 4-5 win-loss record, but they have now lost three of their last four matches.

"It was a terrible performance and it's the worst for the year, obviously," Thomas told Melbourne radio station SEN.

"It's not how we want them to play and everything else, but I don't think Ross actually means that the players are soft.

"Collectively as a group, they're compounding under pressure and not playing as a team, not playing to the best of their ability."

St Kilda sacked Thomas at the end of the 2006 season and appointed Lyon, who took them to ninth last year.

There were high hopes for the Saints when they won the pre-season competition, but they have lost their way in the last month and only a strong last term prevented Sunday from becoming a total rout.

"If we're honest, which is a reflection of me (and) which grates on me ... we're not hard and we're not tough enough, consistently enough," Lyon said post-match.

"It's a reflection of me and my job at the minute, for the supporters and the club, to set us in a direction with a group of players who aren't mentally soft and physically soft and at the minute we've got a few that are - and opposition clubs know that.

"It's hard to put an exact figure but it's too many (players).

"We need players that will bleed for the guernsey.

"The heat will come on the club and myself and that's fair enough and we need to examine exactly why we're inconsistent and who wants to go forward with our leaders."

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