Newcastle United boss John Carver claims that his players are not listening to him, amid reports of a bust-up on the team bus between captain Fabricio Coloccini and goalkeeper Tim Krul.
After the 3-0 defeat to Leicester this weekend, the Daily Telegraph reports that Krul and Coloccini were involved in a "heated row" with the Dutch goalkeeper reportedly furious with the poor defending and lack of leadership from his captain.
Newcastle have not commented on the reports, with caretaker manager Carver forced to defend his position after a run of eight straight defeats.
"I'm not going anywhere until someone comes to me and tells me otherwise," said Carver. "I'm not a shirker, and I'm not going to hide from anyone. I'm going to stand there and take it, because I have to."
Carver, who took over from Crystal Palace-bound Alan Pardew at the turn of the year, has overseen a run of just two wins in 16 games and relegation is now a possibility for a side who had been as high as fifth this season.
"If I'm honest, I have to admit there's a chance they're just not listening to me," said Carver. "That might be one factor of many, and you have to consider it. You have to consider it and take it into account.
"But it might be a lot of other things -- we might not be good enough, we might not have enough desire to want to defend in the box or score at the other end. There's lot of factors, but I won't deny that [the players not listening] could be one of them."