No panic stations for Tiernan Lynch as Derry boss confident of turnaround
TIERNAN Lynch isn’t panicking and won't deviate from his plan as he attempts to turn Derry City’s fortunes around.
The pressure on the Brandywell boss and online criticism from supporters intensified after a fifth defeat of the season last Friday in Drogheda as Derry has now lost more games than they've won after 16 league fixtures.
Two points from a possible nine last week leaves no room for error when Lynch takes his out-of-sorts team to bottom of the table Waterford tonight.
Lynch's relentless positivity after setbacks has somewhat grated on fans who fail to see the same improvements in Derry's performances and who are more concerned about results as the Candy Stripes drift 15 points from the top, approaching the halfway stage of the season.
Lynch won the NIFL Premiership title with Larne six years after taking the reins at Inver Park. He knows he won't be afforded the same time to bring home a title on Foyleside but he's confident he can bring success to the Brandywell club.
"Unfortunately, there's no quick fix for all of this," he said. "If that was the case then every football team, the managers would just do whatever that quick fix is. There is no quick fix. You have to go through the process of this.
"There's lots of good things that go on. There's lots of things we need to get better at. The big thing is we need to start scoring more goals. We're getting ourselves into good positions. We're getting lots of box entries. Now we have to start converting these chances into goals which will obviously win games for you.
"We're fully confident we can do this. There's no panic on our side. We understand the frustration. We have to manage the frustration. But I'm not going to start changing my ways or how I want my team to play because of outside noise about results.
"I know better than anybody: nobody works harder than me trying to get those results. But I want to try and get those results that will be a long-term thing, not a shortt-erm thing."
When asked if he was confident he could get the best out of this talented Derry squad, he answered, "If I wasn't confident I could turn this around I would be walking away.
"I've been at this club for 16 months. At my previous club it probably took me six years to win a league. I don't think I'll be getting six years at Derry to win a league but there's lots of things you have to go through there.
"There's lots of things that maybe not everyone sees. We have to get through this and come out the other side.
"We're working really hard on our recruitment and trying to bring players in. There are areas we've got to get better at.
"We see all those things. These are not new to us. We're working on them every day. So we just have to keep steering the ship; take the good with the bad and I'm under no illusions that this football club is going to be hugely successful."