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Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch during the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Galway United and Derry City at Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/SportsfileTIERNAN Lynch admits 'there's a hard road ahead' for his struggling Derry City team but the Belfast man insists he would 'walk away' from the Brandywell hotseat if he didn't think he could turn the tide.
There's growing pressure on the Derry boss after a fourth defeat in nine games as the 2-1 loss in Galway leaves them languishing in eighth spot and 11 points behind new pacesetters St Patrick's Athletic.
Lynch, who is 16 months into the role at Brandywell, pointed to the fact that it took him six years to win a league title with his former club Larne where he created history by winning back-to-back Irish League Premiership trophies.
However, with huge preseason expectations of securing the first League of Ireland crown in 29 years at Derry following significant squad investment, the pressure is mounting ahead of an Easter Monday trip to Sligo Rovers.
Barry Cotter of Derry City after his side conceded a second goal during the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Galway United and Derry City at Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/SportsfileHe admits confidence is low in the City dressing room at present but he refused to 'sugar-coat' another hugely frustrating performance and says he’s even more determined to get it right.
When asked if a title challenge was now a realistic expectation, Lynch refused to look farther than Monday's crunch clash against second from bottom Sligo Rovers who fell to a 4-1 hammering at the hands of St Pat's at Richmond Park.
"I think there are title aspirations here every year and we get that," said Lynch. "We take responsibility for that. That's not something we're trying to shy away from. We're not trying to make excuses. It's our job to try and put that right.
"My expectation is Monday night in Sligo and that's as far as I'm looking," said Lynch. "I'm not looking too far ahead. We've got to start keeping clean sheets. We've got to start scoring goals.
Under pressure: Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch during the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Galway United and Derry City at Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile"If you look back it took me six years to win a league title. I'm in here 16 months. That's no excuse. We need to be better than where we are right now. Where we are right now isn't good enough. We won't try and hide behind anything but where we are at the moment only makes me more determined to try and put this right. That's what we intend to do."
Asked about the growing agitation amongst the fanbase, Lynch responded: "I can't control outside noises or outside pressures. I can only try and work with our boys to try and put this right and that's what I intend to do."
Franz Pierrot came off the bench late on to score the winning goal in the 82nd minute after James Clarke opened his Derry account with a brilliant solo effort. David Hickey had earlier given Galway a first half lead with a stunning right-footed volley.
A David Walsh header bounced back off his own post in the second half and Dipo Akinyemi had a couple of gilt-edged chances in either half but Galway were good value for their win. For Lynch it was the same old story: defensive errors proving costly once again.
"The momentum isn't with us at the moment. We're struggling. I'm not going to try to sugarcoat this. Confidence is low. It's hard to put your finger on it at the moment, to tell the truth.
"There's an element of me that feels a little bit sorry for the players because it's not as if they're downing tools or not working hard. They're doing all the right things. They're working really hard and they're fully committed.
"The problem is we're just getting absolutely battered with the goals we're conceding. And we're not clinical at the other end of the pitch. Both boxes win and lose you games and we're not doing well enough in each."
So how was the mood in the visiting dressing room after another hugely deflating result?
"It's a tough place to be and we know it's a tough place to be. But we can keep feeling sorry for ourselves or we can roll our sleeves up and dig our way out of this and that's what we fully intend to do. There's no easy fix in it. There's a hard road ahead but we've got to be prepared to do it.
"We're not where we should be. But we've got to take the criticism for that. It's up to us to try and put this right. We can talk all day but we've got to stop conceding goals and start scoring. The bits in between both boxes at times can be very good but we've got to do the hard yards and that's the only way around this."
Derry scored an injury time winner on the opening night to defeat Sligo 2-1 at Brandywell and Lynch knows there's lots riding on the result of Monday night's return fixture.
"Every game is massive for us. Monday night is hopefully a good chance for us to get back on the pitch and try and put tonight right. I'm kind of sick saying that.
"If I didn't think I could turn this around I would walk away," he answered when asked if he was confident of turning around the club's fortunes.
"There are good players in that changing room. Things maybe aren't going the way they should at the moment, but that's on us. We've got to take responsibility for that - all of us collectively. Not defending well enough as a team and not scoring enough goals. We can look for excuses in injuries but there's no excuses. We take where we are and it's up to us to put it right."
Lynch confirmed that skipper and talisman Michael Duffy will be out for up to a month with a quad injury while James McClean is set to see a specialist next week for a hip problem.
"Michael Duffy is going to be a couple of weeks, probably a minimum of four weeks and James McClean has a specialist next week. At this stage, we're not sure how long he's going to be out. He has a hip problem and Mickey has a quad problem."
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