Britney Spears britkevsands.jpg Mere days after he left his job with Kevin Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan and took a new job with Britney Spears' controversial friend Sam Lutfi, infamous image consultant Michael Sands has gone on the attack!

X17 just spoke with Sands, and he had some harsh words for Federline, saying that the aspiring rapper "needs to step up!"

Sands concedes a few points to Federline, calling Kevin "the better parent" outright.

However, Sands was quick to allege K-Fed of failing to be there for Britney when it counted, saying that Federline "needs to grant Britney visitation and stop hiding under the table - [he] really needs to do what's in the best interest of his kids"!

Sands also took his former employer to task for similar reasons, bluntly declaring that "needs to step up to the plate and lay off Britney Spears."

"He's gotta let up on someone who's sick," Sands told X17. "You wanna keep beating [a sick person] up? Don't live in the problem - live in the solution!"

Overall, Sands painted a picture of Britney as a victim of illness, calling her "the Frances Farmer of the 21st century".

"She's not some Frankenstein - she has an illness," he told X17. "Britney does need to be monitored...The disorder is ruining her. It's a neurological problem."

But Britney's children, Sands opined, may be the key to her recovery.

"Britney should be allowed visitation under the supervision of a psychiatric nurse and security," he said. "She's not a bad mother - it's the disease."