Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak admits everyone at Aston Villa needs to share the blame for the sacking of coach Roberto Di Matteo.
The Italian, who steered Chelsea to the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League title in 2012, was fired on Monday after just 124 days in the job -- the shortest reign of any permanent manager in Villa's history.
Jedinak was in camp with the Australian team in Jeddah ahead of their dual World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Japan when the axe fell.
Relegated from the Premier League last season, Villa has fallen to 19th in the Championship with just one win and seven draws from 11 games.
"It's disappointing, but the manager's going to be the first to be put under pressure," Jedinak said.
"I'm not trying to shift responsibility -- everybody needs to take a look at themselves and we need to rectify what's happened.
"Coming here and getting away from that environment for a bit, you can take a step back and think a bit clearer but it's never nice.
"I've experienced it a few times at club level, when a manager goes. It doesn't become any easier, but it's part and parcel."
Aston Villa is yet to appoint a replacement with Di Matteo's former assistant coach Steve Clark installed as caretaker boss.
Di Matteo has expressed his disappointment at being forced to the club "so soon" and said he was confident his work would soon yield results and push Villa back up the table.
Jedinak only arrived at Villa Park in August following a reluctant exit after five years at Crystal Palace, where he served as club captain, but said he felt they were headed in the right direction.
"We're a work in progress," he said. "We're only a few positive results from turning it around and I've seen enough to know that we can get those results in a matter of games.
"It's going to be a challenge but one that you need to embrace, that I've definitely embraced."