PETERBOROUGH boss Trevor Swales made his feelings perfectly clear to his side as he saw them crumble at Birmingham and leave the Midlands point-less.
The Readypower Panthers were only more than six points down once throughout the meeting but a home 4-2 in the last heat denied them a valuable point on the road.
That led to Swales to hold an impromptu team meeting immediately after Heat 15.
The fuming team manager said: “I have made my feelings perfectly clear to the team and they know that that performance was simply unacceptable.
“We just weren't good enough all night and we were beaten by the better team.
“This form away can not continue because we are not going to get into the play-offs with the way we are riding away from home.
“I don't want to say any more than that at the moment because I don't want to say anything out of turn. The boys know how I feel and they better start puttingit right.”
Skipper Nicki Pedersen was the only stand-out performer for the Panthers as he notched 15 paid 16, including an excellent tactical ride victory in Heat 13.
Kacper Gomolski, riding in his first Panthers meeting since June, worked hard for his six points and reported no ill-effects of the broken collarbone that sidelined him for so long in a rare positive for the side.
The Polish teenager was always in the thick of the action and took points off Ales Dryml and Claus Vissing (twice) on his first ever visit to Perry Barr.
Krzysztof Buczkowski, Linus Sundström – who was excluded in Heat 10 after a clash with Brummies’ Krzysztof Kasprzak – and Troy Batchelor all had race wins but struggled for consistency, which was exactly what the home team showed as each rider registered at least one paid-victory.
Not even the withdrawal of Kasprzak after his crash was enough to give the Panthers the momentum as they tailed away after the interval.
The last five saw skipper Pedersen as the only visiting race winner and that was never going to be enough to claim a first league win on the road this season.
It was another disappointing away-day for the Showground men and they now look to get their play-off chase back on track on Monday (August 15) when the Swindon Robins are in town for another vital Sky Sports Elite League clash.
BIRMIMGHAM 50: Daniel King 13, Daniel Nermark 10:1, Ben Barker 7:1, Ulrich Østergaard 5:3, Claus Vissing 5:1, Ales Dryml 5, Krzysztof Kasprzak 5.