Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes he's being targeted after admitting doubts about his current form.
For a player who never shirks his responsibility and is usually the first to raise his hand when standards slip, it's been a rude lesson in how offering critics an inch can often see them grab a mile.
He told the News of the World: "Maybe I'm too honest or maybe I'm just stupid. Ronnie Moran told me I've been too honest for my own good when talking about my form. I think there could be something to that.
"There are 25 internationals in our dressing room and none of us can say we've been at the top of our game this season.
"It's just that I got asked about my form and I admitted I could do more, but I don't think I've been in as bad form as has been made out since I said that. Maybe I should be more careful what I say.
"I had a disastrous first-half against West Ham and made a mistake in the two minutes of injury time against Chelsea when I should have done better against a world class striker in Drogba.
"I'd played well for 90 minutes. On the back of that I accepted I needed to improve and I actually thought I showed some character and did better in the games afterwards.
"So it was a bit surprising to hear people still saying I'm partly to blame for our results.
"I know when I've had a bad game because I can't get to sleep at night thinking about it. I'm my own biggest critic.
"I've watched videos of all the games because there's no-one needs to tell me how well or badly I've played. Across the whole season, I honestly don't think I have performed that badly apart from the games I've mentioned. But the results haven't been there so we all take responsibility for that.
"I know when we lose people look to the senior professionals, but you do think sometimes it's easy to jump on the bandwagon."