After all, that's the nature of the sporting beast. Buckley again acknowledged on Friday he will be judged by wins and losses. Too many of the latter, in a year when he is off contract, is going to make it extremely difficult to not overshadow what would be considered the good work that has gone on under his watch.

Just how, or when, any movement would come is the water-cooler debate. Industry figures believe Buckley is of the character to walk away, even through the season, should he believe he has done as much as he can for a club he has spent all but two years at since 1994.

If a move is made, what all parties would hope is to avoid a repeat of many of the acrimonious departures in AFL history, not the least being the late Tom Hafey's departure from Punt Rd after the Tigers missed the finals in 1976.

Hafey was a beloved figure, and had led the Tigers to four flags. Buckley hasn't gone further than a preliminary final, in his first year, but he is also a towering figure, largely due to his playing days, in Magpie history.

Hafey was actually reappointed but, having found out he didn't have the full support of the 11-man board, primarily club powerbroker Graeme Richmond, he stepped down.

In some ways, Eddie McGuire is the modern equivalent of the man known as "GR" at Tigerland. If Buckley loses the support of McGuire, then he almost certainly will be gone. That then begs the question what, if any, blame McGuire and chief executive Gary Pert would accept, for they engineered the controversial handover from Mick Malthouse in 2011. That's a question for another day.

In what has been another difficult week at the office, Buckley, 44, has been appreciative of those asking how he is. It's too easy to forget in these situations he is not only Nathan the coach, but is also Nathan the man, the husband, the father.

"I am going all right, I am going OK," he said.

"What I do have is great support internally and I have actually been asked that question a fair bit, this week in particular. I think that is the great thing about footy clubs. I actually probably think about it more when people actually ask about it than in my quiet moments."

Buckley has always been a deep thinker of the game, a pragmatist. He knows he is under pressure to retain his job as coach, one that will be under even more focus should the Pies lose to unbeaten Geelong on Sunday.

That would leave a club blessed with arguably the best resources in the league at 1-5 (that win being by a point over Sydney), and facing Carlton next weekend. More on that in a minute. But, for the time being, the support from inside the club has been strong, led by McGuire.

???"We are actually still in control of our destiny. Until that is not the case, you don't lift your eyes or take your focus off the things you can actually impact on," Buckley said.

He still believes he can have an impact, both in man management and tactically. What he does need is help from his players, who must hit targets and convert set shots. Victory was there for the taking against Essendon on Anzac Day but the now-customary problems resurfaced.

Skipper Scott Pendlebury admitted he had the worst game of his career, while forward Alex Fasolo has the goal-kicking yips. That issue is exacerbated when it's pointed out the Pies have yet to score more than 100 points in a game this season. The fast-finishing Cats have done it in on all five occasions.

AFL great Wayne Carey says the Pies have done much right this year but their disposal forward of centre has hurt.

The Pies are last in the league for goal-kicking efficiency, and rely too heavily on youngster Will Hoskin-Elliott, Fasolo and small forward Jamie Elliott for potency inside 50. Darcy Moore isn't ready to be the focus.

"I can't see the Pies kicking a score larger than the Cats," Carey said, although he hopes for a Magpies win to ease the pressure on Buckley.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has noted "everything is hard work" for the Pies, claiming they "are not skilful enough" and the "lack of connection" between the midfield and forwards has hurt.

Should the Pies lose to the Cats, this then brings us to next week's clash against the Blues, their stumbling arch rival whose shock 15-point win in round seven last year was so gut-wrenching that McGuire revealed he questioned whether he was the right man to lead the club. He said it was only through the passion of his two sons, who reminded him to fight through tough times, that he remained.

A loss this time to the Blues, buoyed by a win over Sydney but still in a deeper recession than they were last year, would almost certainly provoke a backlash Buckley and the Pies' board could not ignore, particularly on a weekend where the club will celebrate its 125th birthday.

Magpies great Tony Shaw told Fairfax Media in March he thought Buckley was safe until the end of the season, and this week he reiterated that stance. However, there was a caveat - that could change if the Pies are soon out of the finals race.

"The only way it (axing) will happen is, if they mathematically can't make the finals, Nathan might do it himself," he said.

Should the Pies crash to 1-6, would they still be in the hunt for September?

For those optimistic supporters, they won't have forgotten the Pies last year rebounded a week after that defeat to the Blues by crunching the Lions in Brisbane. A week later they would get the jump on the Cats with seven-goals-to-none first term. Led by 26 disposals and three goals from Scott Pendlebury, they would go on and win by four goals.

What the Pies would give for repeat performance on Sunday.

MAGPIE DELIGHT OR FRIGHT?

Run into mid-season bye

R6: v Geelong (MCG)

R7: v Carlton (MCG)

R8: v Greater Western Sydney (Spotless Stadium)

R9: v Hawthorn (MCG)

R10: v Brisbane (MCG)

R11: v Fremantle (Domain Stadium)

R12: v Melbourne (MCG)

???