Waterford's signing of former Republic of Ireland defender Kevin Long is a "great coup" for the club, according to Richie Towell.
The Blues announced the arrival of the 35-year-old on Sunday, two days after their heavy 5-0 defeat at Dundalk.
Waterford are the only side without a win in the top flight this season and the result has left Jon Daly's much-changed outfit rock bottom of the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division.
Long will bring considerable experience to the squad. The Cork man played at the highest level earlier in his career, having been capped 17 times for Ireland between 2017 and 2020.
He also played in the Premier League for Burnley, while his last spell was at Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.
Speaking on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast, ex-Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk league winner Towell believes Long will bring plenty to the table for Waterford.
But he also believes it will be a tall order to plug a porous defence alone.
"It's a great coup for Waterford. I couldn't believe it when I saw it this morning that he was after going there," he said.
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"I think if Kevin has watched Waterford at any stage this season, I think he'll know he'll be in for a long evening every single time he plays.
"Every time I watch Waterford, the amount of goals they concede is ridiculous. I really questioned their heart and character when they played against Dundalk on Friday night.
"That's probably why Jon Daly has gone out and got someone so experienced like Kevin.
"He's been there at the highest level and he's done it, played for Ireland, done great.
"Can he come in and be the person to change it all around at Waterford? I'm not so sure.
"Obviously to have his experience at the back and Pádraig Amond's experience up front, that's going to be great for Waterford.
"But it's the thing in between that really worries me about Waterford. I think they're really, really soft and to go up to Oriel Park and concede five goals, it's not good enough."
Also speaking on the podcast, former Shamrock Rovers, UCD and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Paul Corry believes Long's arrival is acknowledgement that Waterford's recruitment was perhaps too forward-minded over the last few windows.
"It feels like Waterford went all in on attacking players and scoring enough goals," he said.
"They're great players going forward. But to Richie's point, they have conceded an awful lot of goals.
"It's not a great look when you go to a newly promoted team and you get done for five. So Long is definitely going to have to come in there.
"There are a lot of young centre-halves in Waterford as well. Maybe it does need an experienced body amongst them just to organise them and put them into different positions and try to shut out the opposition.
"Like I spoke about with Sean Hoare (at St Patrick's Athletic), Long will bring a presence and a physical presence to put your head on things, clear things and do the basics really well.
"He's at the tail end of his career but you'd hope he's fit enough to get through games. But certainly an addition to the squad and a much-needed one."
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