Adelaide coach Neil Craig says he won't be swamped by a wave of personal criticism.

Craig's methods have been scrutinised in the wake of his side's meek surrender to Port Adelaide last weekend.

The Crows led by 34 points in the second quarter only to lose by 32 points in a performance Craig said rattled some supporters.

"I understand the backlash from our supporters because they would be really disappointed," Craig said on Thursday.

"Particularly as they saw the contrast of it - I mean that spooks people doesn't it, when they see the contrast of it, so I understand that.

"From our supporter base that just shows the passion they have for our footy club and the demand they have for a performance."

Former AFL coaches Grant Thomas and Robert Shaw have also been critical, but Craig said he would remain thick-skinned.

"You have got to be careful with all that because you can take your mind off the job you need to do," he said.

"We have been through that all before, that is nothing new in footy when you have losses.

"... But that is not going to go away until we perform consistently better.

" ... I'm happy to answer any of those questions that you throw up, I guess what I don't want to do is answer everyone's opinion that is out there."

Craig said he understood "the old adage: the buck will stop with me ... so let's not try and shy away from it".

But he said there were reasons for Adelaide's performance disparity, including an influx of young players yet to prove consistently competitive.

"It's a consistency thing," he said.

"... The teams we had two or three years ago in terms of the experience, they have been through it and the majority of them are hardened AFL players, so they have learnt their trade in this area.

"We have got still some players in our team who have got some enormous talent, but they need to understand that this can't drop away.

"And when it does, it's my responsibility topick it up and demand it ... it will come, they are not perfect from day one."

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