Adelaide coach Neil Craig says one of his worst weeks in the caper is also among his most important.

Craig's Crows are floundering in 15th on the ladder after four consecutive losses.

The plight prompted unheralded public support for Craig by Adelaide's chief executive Steven Trigg on Monday.

Craig baulked at describing the bleak start as his toughest period.

"It's always tough," he said on Thursday.

"It's also a period where you develop skills that you probably don't have unless you go through it.

"Talk to a range of other senior coaches ... at some stage you are going to go through a really tough period at AFL level.

"It's highly scrutinised, but that is the industry you are in.

"So you have just got be very clear about where you are going, because you have so much opinion about what should happen and what should change that unless you are really clear about where you are going, you can start to change all over the place.

"You don't want to become pig headed ... and that is one of the skills that I'm talking about.

"It's an interesting time for that because it really tests you - it tests your philosophy about where you are going, why you are doing things.

"It's not a good time to go through, but in terms of developing yourself as a coach, it's an important time."

Craig said he understood the intense scrutiny of his methods.

"We are all pretty realistic in this game ... we all get assessed, I'm absolutely comfortable with that," he said.

"I haven't got a lifetime job here at the Adelaide Football Club.

"I have got a responsibility to try and get a performance - job specification, that is the number one role.

"And so I need to be assessed, I need to be looked at ... I understand that."

Trigg and the Crows board had been "totally supportive", Craig said.

"There is a sense of urgency about what is going on, it's not unconditional support, `do what you like'," he said.

"But they want to know why things are happening, what are we doing - as they should."

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