Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes says manager Walter Mazzarri's difficulty speaking English made communication difficult at Vicarage Road this season.
Mazzarri was told last week that he would be out of a job after Sunday's final game, a 5-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Watford finished just one place above the relegation spots in 17th, and Gomes blamed the seasons' woes partly on the Italian manager's inability to instruct his players.
"It is important to speak English if you are a manager," Gomes told the BBC. "They cannot pass on instructions to the players but he tried his best and we thank him for it.
"The club had to make a decision, and they did. The language didn't help him. We apologise for some of our mistakes, we can't just blame the manager."
The Hornets seemed to have clocked off from the moment they reached 40 points, promptly losing their last six matches of the season, and Mazzarri appeared to have gone rogue with his final line-up.
Deprived of six centre-halves through injury, the Italian fielded two full-backs and midfielder Valon Behrami in the most makeshift of back-threes.
Yet even more bizarre was the sight of two goalkeepers named on the bench. However, having three goalkeepers on the field would probably not have saved Watford from a mauling.
It was not the send-off Mazzarri wanted. At one point when the Italian received a lecture from referee Jon Moss some home fans called for him to be sent to the stands.
"I wish the fans were informed of what happened during the season," Mazzarri said. "We gave everything and with such a difficult situation an inexperienced manager would have done worse.
"We were safe with six games left. It's another objective in my career. I'm not for appearances, I am for facts. Look at the stats. We reached the objective. That is all that counts.
"I'm expert enough to know you cannot have all 20,000 people on your side. But I know the majority understood what was going on."