Burton Albion boss Nigel Clough says there can be "a time and a place" for public criticism of your own team.
Fellow manager Chris Wilder - whose Sheffield United outfit were set to host the Brewers tomorrow before the game was postponed on Thursday - reserved some strong words for his side following their 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Hull City last week.
"We got what we deserved out there, which was absolutely nothing" he told the Sheffield Star after the game.
"I've been going on about trying to get into the top six but, looking at that, I must be off my head. I must be away with the fairies."
The response of the United players was an emphatic one, as they beat Reading 3-1 on Tuesday to climb back into the Championship's play-off spots.
Wilder may well have hoped his comments would spark such an immediate bounce from his side.
And that is something Clough appreciates himself, if it is done in the right way.
"Apparently that's not the thing to do, but he got three points on the back of it on Tuesday night," said the Albion manager.
"I think there's a time and a place for it, and if you feel it's justified and the players are honest enough to accept that, then I don't see any great problem with it.
"It worked and he got the three points - and they're back in the play-off positions.
"It just emphasises what a brilliant job he has done there."
Clough has been critical of his own side at times this season, including after a disappointing 3-1 loss against the Royals in January in which Albion were well short of their best.
He has since described that game as Burton's "rock-bottom moment", and their performance levels have taken a notable upturn over subsequent weeks, with a three-game unbeaten run coming since.
The Brewers boss, though, does accept there can be a risk involved with being vocally critical - and he believes the effect any criticism has can depend on the "honesty" of the players in a team.
"Of course it is (a risk) - it's how the players are going to take it," he added.
"Occasionally you might lose one or two, and they might go, 'somebody's giving me criticism'.
"This is the modern-day player as well. They don't actually look at themselves and say, 'maybe I deserved it, maybe I didn't do my job correctly, maybe I didn't try as hard'.
"But the honest ones will then turn around, it might take a couple of days, and think, 'you know what, I think he was right with the criticism'.
"And I think Chris has that sort of team at Sheffield United."
