Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce has been left frustrated as his players "have not grasped'' his approach as his attempt to guide the Eagles to safety this season continues to stutter.
Allardyce has overseen just one Premier League victory since replacing Alan Pardew at the Selhurst Park helm on Dec. 23.
A 1-0 defeat at Stoke in their last outing has left Palace 19th in the table and two points from safety, although they can move level on points with 16th-placed Middlesbrough if they beat Aitor Karanka's side in south London on Saturday.
Former England boss Allardyce, 62, has never been relegated from the top flight and kept Sunderland in the division against all odds last season having been appointed in the middle of the campaign.
But his arrival at Palace has not yielded the expected upturn in results and Allardyce is starting to become irked at how long it is taking for his message to sink in having taken just four points from the 24 on offer since he took over.
"The players are responsible,'' he said.
"The advice I've given over the years has to have been pretty good because I've been managing at this level for such a long time now.
"My experiences of talking to the players at this top level, and being able to produce a team that wins football matches and probably finish where they should, or better than where they should in terms of what we spend and the players we have, I'm trying to pass that experience on to the players.
"I'm a bit frustrated that they have not grasped that yet. Maybe it's because it's been going on so long now. Or they've found it difficult to change. But we all have to change and pull in the right direction, and do what the coaches are saying.
"I think that eventually I hope they will and there is still enough time to do that.''
Allardyce believes his role as trouble shooter has been made more difficult this time as Palace's players are not retaining the information he and his coaching staff are providing.
"When you're dropped into a club, it's a difficult task because of where it is,'' he said.
"You're brought in as the trouble shooter, to get things right as quickly as you can. I've not managed that here as quickly as I did at the other clubs I've been at.
"But it's about how we get results at home, first and foremost. That's the big downside of the last 14 months. That's what we've got to change around first, starting tomorrow.
"I think that, because I haven't had as big an influence since I've been here in terms of positive results -- if we'd got four more draws, I'd be more confident than I am at the moment.
"Where I am struggling at the moment is the players keeping the message and staying with the game plan. If they do that, they'll have a better chance of a result. At the end of the day, my experience and my qualifications are far greater than theirs.
"Players are paid to play. I'm the manager, so the system and tactics are my expertise, not theirs. They have to put it into practice.
"In possession, they make the decision where and when they pass the ball. If they get that more correct than they have been, we'll get more results.''
Allardyce has told his players to remember the better days of their careers and has even suggested the club can provide personalised montages to help rekindle magic moments.
"The players have to accept a lot of them haven't played at their best for a long time,'' he added.
"They need to go back to their best games, to what they did best, and stop being negative about themselves. Go and remember the great times, when you played really, really well.
"Particularly all the players who were here up to 2015. Go and watch those games. Fifth in the league in December 2015 is not that long ago. Revisiting that is a player's responsibility. They have to do that.
"We can push it on their iPads, iPhones, add music to it if they want. We can juggle anything up they fancy. If that makes them feeling that little bit more positive, that's what we'll have to do.''