Eamon Dunphy believes Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane "don't respect" Wes Hoolahan, that they have no clear game plan and has also questioned what exactly assistant manager Keane's role is.
The Republic of Ireland laboured to a 1-1 draw in Georgia on Saturday in what was arguably the worst performance of the campaign.
Hoolahan was left on the bench throughout, and Ireland now face into Tuesday night's clash with Serbia needing three points to keep their World Cup dream alive.
The direct style of play has drawn criticism throughout O'Neill's reign, but Saturday's display was particularly inept. Dunphy, speaking to RTÉ 2fm's Game On, did not hold back in his appraisal.
"The team has no shape. (O'Neill and Keane) have been in charge now for three years. It doesn't have any recognisable identity, except that you know the players will fight," he said.
"James McClean was heroic but where was he playing?"
"They want to play for Ireland. They'll fight til the bitter end and they've got some really good results. But when you take a closer look, for example Saturday's game... shocking.
"It was badly organised. Shane Long was isolated. They dropped way too deep. Wes Hoolahan was sitting on the bench. James McClean was heroic but where was he playing?
"Nobody was in a designated position. Harry Arter who plays for Bournemouth, who are a passing team with a top coach, Eddie Howe, he must have had a headache trying to come to terms with this shambles. It was a shambles. There's no other word for it.
"These guys have their mind made up about Wes. They don't respect him.
"He's a terrific player. They don't want him because... I don't know they're mystery men.
"I would not blame the players. There isn't a single player I'd blame. They all did their best."
Ireland scored early in Tibilisi and then sat back, a trap they've fallen into on a few occasions.
Their inability to keep the ball in midfield or establish anything resembling decent possession has also frustrated fans, and Dunphy said the blame for those deficiencies lies with the management team.
"I don't know what Keane is doing and I don't know what they're looking at, what they're doing, what they're seeing on the training ground," he added.
"My suspicion is that they're not doing very much because you just couldn't get it that wrong.
"You just couldn't. We go one-nil up and we immediately drop deep in our own half and allow a team short of four of their best players to own the ball for the rest of the game. That's what they did. I don't understand it.
"I don't know what Keane does to be honest. He gives good press conferences.
"Keane is a pretty intimidating character to have around players, young players in particular.
"Glenn Whelan gives us nothing and Wes gives us an awful lot. You only have to look back to our best away result in Vienna against Austria. Wes delivered a beautiful pass to James McClean who put it in the back of the net. The significance of Whelan is he went off injured after 25 minutes and we improved as a side.
"I don't like this guy (O'Neill), but that's not the point. The point is we have players who will go out tomorrow night and do everything humanly possible (to win).
"It would be nice if Wes Hoolahan started tomorrow night but I think that train has left the station."
Watch the Republic of Ireland v Serbia live on RTÉ2, listen on RTÉ 2fm's Game On and follow the action with RTÉ Sport Online's live blog from 7pm
