St Kilda president Greg Westaway wants Ross Lyon at the AFL club for as long as possible but has stressed the coach knows that he must produce to keep his position.

Westaway reiterated his support for Lyon, whose side is in danger of missing the finals again and who criticised his side as being soft following last weekend's terrible loss to the Brisbane Lions.

Westaway last week said he would like Lyon to coach at St Kilda for 10 seasons - Allan Jeans is the only man to have done so at the club - and reinforced that preference by citing continuity as one of the hallmarks of success.

"I took that as being a pretty sensible call," Westaway said before St Kilda's game against Melbourne at Telstra Dome.

"With that in mind, we wanted Ross to know that we fully support his plan and his playing style.

"Nonetheless, and I've discussed this with Ross, that we would like to see him with us for the long term, but he knows that he'll be judged on performance.

"Ross knows full well there is no blank cheque at St Kilda, and he said it himself to me over a cup of coffee last Thursday, quite unprompted."

Westaway said the Saints were "not happy with the position that we are in at the moment", but stressed he would have no major say on the way the football department did things.

"It's not for me and it never will be to decide on an individual, their performances, what type of players can play or the game plan," he said.

"We've got experts in the club that do the job for us."

Westaway also had some consoling words for Melbourne chairman Paul Gardner, whose board could be on the verge of facing a major challenge.

"We've been through board changes and our experience was it all worked out OK, so all the best with it, the guys at Melbourne," he said.

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