Tiernan Lynch: Fans give you time or they don't - I can't control that!

​The under-fire City boss felt the fury of a disgruntled fanbase after last Friday's 1-0 loss to Drogheda, facing scathing criticism of recent performances, decision-making and a lack of a clear identity or progression.

However, the Belfast man insists those 'outside noises' are out of his control and he's not about to change his strategy or alter his ultimate goals for the club.

Lynch insists he has a 'very clear plan' for a style of play and that it was never going to click with 'a flick of a switch'.

"I can't control the fans," Lynch said when asked about the growing agitation. "They give you time or they don't give you time. It's a bit like the ownership - they give you time or they don't give you time.

"They will make that decision - I won't. The one thing I will guarantee and the one thing that won't ever change is how hard we're going to work and the effort and commitment we'll make to get this right.

"I think, we have a very clear vision of where we want to go and what we want to do. We have a very clear plan of how we want to play. Some of our signings haven't worked. Some of our signings have been great signings for us.

"This is just something that's a process. I'd love to tell you different. I'd love to tell you this is a flick of a switch or a wave of a wand - it doesn't work like that."

Lynch sees green shoots despite the results - a run of three winless matches - but understands results is how his team will be judged.

"I felt for the players on Friday night because they pretty much did everything they asked of them as far as performance was concerned and getting on the ball and being brave.

"It was a game we were very dominant in. Obviously there's criticism that goes with that because you end up losing the game and there's no doubt it's a results-based industry." Is he starting to feel the pressure?

"It depends on what you call pressure," he answered. "There's pressure to manage any football club. There's always pressure. You live game to game on results.

"I think the big thing from our end is, and this is what people probably don't see, they are frustrated because it's all results and about wins.

"We probably look at it slightly differently in the sense that we're trying to build something. We're trying to look at performance. We're trying to get a steady 11 on the pitch. We've probably been hampered a little by injuries in certain places at certain times. That's been difficult to do.

"Many of our big players haven't been getting on the pitch which has also affected us a little bit. So there are a million factors with it all; it's not just a straight line but I'm not going to sit and make excuses. We know there are games we should've won. Our job is now to go and win them.

"You've got to take that on the chin. We did come back in on Monday and looked at areas we could and should have been better and tried to address those this week in training. We roll our sleeves up and go again and try to bounce back."

Friday's trip to the RSC is pivotal as they meet a Waterford team that has yet to win a league fixture this term. It's a 'must-win' but Derry really need to start clicking in the final third.

"I think everyone expects us to win every game. That's the pressure that comes with managing a big club like Derry City. We fully expect ourselves to win and will be going down there with that intention.

"It's probably very similar to ourselves [at Waterford] where people will look at results but probably not look at performances. You look at our own results against Drogheda and that's ultimately what people will see. They won't see the dominance or the things we did really well.

"They will notice we didn't score goals and that's one thing about Waterford. They have two boys up front that have goals in them. They have experience, they have movement, know-how, so they will always carry a threat. We know that to take anything out of going down there, it's a difficult venue, we have to be at our best.