Yeah but it isn't exactly baseless.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spor...verton-standards-slipped-last-season-11895601
Everton standards slipped last season admits Barry
Barry said: “The standards of the players were, for me, slightly slipping last season, on and off the pitch.
“If standards are slipping off the pitch it can impact on your form on the pitch and the whole team was losing that level that is expected to compete at the top end of the Premier League. The manager doesn’t want to come across as some sort of headmaster but he has been quite keen to let anybody know if they go underneath the standards expected. That is good for everyone."
He added: “It was things like time-keeping, dress codes, training everything really. For example, this morning, a team was losing quite heavily at head tennis and he wanted to know why. He doesn’t want anyone losing their focus and with good reason. One team shouldn’t be getting beat so heavily at anything within the club, whether it’s head tennis, five-a-side or on a Saturday.
“The confidence and everything had gone last season and things were maybe going away from what was expected. Confidence had gone on the pitch, results weren’t going the right way and there was a lot of unrest with the fans. It is easy for players sometimes to get dragged along with that and all of a sudden they are being dragged along and the standards are slipping. I think you could tell from some of the performances last season that was creeping in.”