Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley has been told by Scottish Rugby Union chief Mark Dodson he needs to sort out his side's Heineken Cup form following two heavy defeats.
The Scottish side made history last season by reaching the semi-finals and becoming the first team from north of the border to win a Pool and host a home quarter-final. They were eventually beaten by Ulster at the Aviva Stadium in the last four.
But despite a substantial cash injection during the summer from the SRU, and the recruitment of former Heineken Cup winner Neil Back as forwards coach, Edinburgh have slumped to successive defeat at the hands of Saracens and Munster in Pool 1.
Saracens went to Murrayfield in Round 1 and won 45-0, while Munster triumphed 33-0 at Thomond park. Both sides grabbed bonus points as the Scottish side shipped nine tries and failed to score a point.
It leaves their European campaign hanging by a thread ahead of back-to-back games against Racing Metro 92, a team they beat twice last season on their way to the semi-finals.
"Clearly, we are disappointed with the Edinburgh performances, particularly the Heineken Cup. I was very disappointed with the manner of the Saracens and Munster defeats as much as the scores," SRU chief executive e Dodson told the Scottish media this week.
"We're shipping far too many soft tries and we've made it clear to the players and the coaching group that we need to sort it out. We have certainly missed out on improving our stock in Europe.
"Michael has to take responsibility for this, which he is doing, and he's working hard with the other coaches to make sure that we can turn the situation around. When you're giving away soft tries it's very difficult to come back and take points away from the game."
Life isn't getting any easier for Bradley and his team because they have to travel to Ravenhill this weekend to face the only remaining unbeaten team in Europe, Ulster. While the Belfast-based outfit have won eight games in a row, Edinburgh, have lost seven of their nine matches to date this season.
