The “honeymoon” is apparently over between the the ruling Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis following the handling of the negotiations with Greece’s international creditors, sources believe.

If some latest media reports are true, the budding “anti-hero” game theorist with the “loud” shirts and Burberry scarf has been downgraded from a “living legend” adored by SYRIZA supporters inside and outside the country to a media-obsessed “taking head”. His “political stock” has reportedly fallen within the leftist party, although he supposedly enjoys Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ ear, while his personal notoriety is — whether positive, negative or neutral — is now unmatched by any Greek politico.

When Tsipras, speaking at Friday’s Cabinet meeting, referred to “less slogans and more work, less talk and more action,” most SYRIZA deputies’ minds turned to Yanis.

Apart from his flashy appearance and lack of restraint during interviews, the controversial ‘Varoufakis e-mail’ of reforms was seen as a continuation of the previous conservative government’s ‘Hardouvelis e-mail’, casting a huge shadow of doubt over his anti-austerity credentials.

Excellent when it comes to communication, he managed to ‘dress up’ the agreement with the Eurogroup in semantics, using the term ‘creative vagueness’ and a ‘fig leaf’ so that, as he said, foreign parliaments are able to approve the points on the reforms list. Despite his aptitude in supporting his maneuvers, it appears that his agreements do not go down well with 1/3 of SYRIZA deputies, who appear ready to vote against the deal if not beholden to toe the party line. Most of the party’s deputies believe Varoufakis should stop improvizing in ways that make him appear like a “one man show”. The Eurogroup agreement, though considered by his party as a necessary evil with enough flexibility, was the result of Varoufakis’ own strategy and initiative for a solution to Greece’s economic woes.

Within the party, there’s a view that the deal could have been better if the extravagant and superfluous minister had shown greater focus on the details of the agreement rather than entered into personal conflict with other EU protagonists such as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble and Dutch Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, even though his behavior may have been just part and parcel of his nature.

The very characteristics that SYRIZA may have suspected and counted on working in their favor are now being reassessed. It is clear that Varoufakis isn’t exactly a master of diplomatic behavior even though he is considered a master game player. More a ‘suicide bomber’ or ‘black widow’ than a patient negotiator who focuses on details, he is now being closely monitored by his government that is showing signs of distrust.

Sources state that Varoufakis would have appeared by himself at the second Eurogroup meeting but it was his behavior with foreign counterparts (e.g. comments like “Wow!” when dealing with Dijsselbloem) that led the government to choose to send Deputy Prime Minister Giannis Dragasakis with him to the meeting.

“We need more specific focus on goals and less fanfare,” said Dragasakis, a common apparently aimed at Varoufakis though he was not specifically named.

Dozens of SYRIZA MPs remain unconvinced that Varoufakis is handling negotiations with EU partners in the best way possible. High ranking officials such as Parliamentary Speaker Zoi Konstantopoulou failed to support the loan extension deal by voting present. Productive Reconstruction Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis was also critical of the deal that he considers makes too many concessions. Perhaps the most extensive criticism came from Yiannis Milios, the architect of SYRIZA’s economic policies, who wrote a long essay criticizing the agreement’s shortfalls, calling it a ‘retreat’.