"How can you come to a solution without going through those processes?" said Buckley on SEN on Thursday morning.

"That's in a coaching, playing and administration level. If you've got everyone just going along saying 'yes, yes, yes' then where's the growth?"

There has been speculation that Buckley had a troubled relationship with some of his players, including midfielder Dayne Beams, who has asked to be released to the Brisbane Lions to be closer to his family and father, who is being treated for cancer.

Fairfax Media's Caroline Wilson on Thursday quoted Magpies captain Scott Pendlebury and youngster Jamie Elliott throwing their support behind Buckley and dismissing claims he had "lost the players".

Buckley said he was bemused when the stereotype of him being an uncompromising taskmaster, which was his hallmark when a player, was still used.

"That view of me gets reinforced every time someone asks that question and I don't know the last time that was relevant to be honest. I haven't played since 2007," Buckley said.

"I do have a value set about how I think success comes about, so if you're asking me if I have a high expectation about how people at Collingwood go about their business to perform, yes I do. Am I open and clear with the communication of that? Yes I am. Do I see that there's other ways that people do things to find their own level of success? Absolutely."

Buckley said while the Magpies had a disappointing second half of the season where they plummeted from finals contention, he maintained the team was improving.

"I absolutely know that we're on the right path," he said.

"All the decisions we've made and the way we're playing our football, the way that we're training, the way that our players are buying in, we're on the right path.

"We're very confident with what we're building and what we're putting together and in time it will come to pass."