Waterford boss Graham Coughlan pulled no punches after watching his team slip to a 4-1 loss at St Patrick's Athletic on Friday night, warning some players have "gone as far as they can with us" as he attempts to drag the club out of trouble.
The Blues are bottom of the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division, 10 points adrift of ninth-placed Sligo Rovers.
Coughlan got the call last week to take the reins after Waterford parted company with Jon Daly.
He returns to his homeland having managed Newport County in England's League Two, Mansfield Town and most recently Boston United in the National League.
His team took the lead at Richmond Park but were pinned in for large chunks of the contest, with the home side going through the gears in the second half.
"I have to first of all congratulate Pat's," Coughlan told RTÉ Sport. "I thought they were very good. I didn't think we quite got our tactical side right. We were a little bit slow to press. We let them come on top of us and we started going backwards. I suppose that's the mindset, that's the mentality when you're not winning, probably a lack of confidence and self-belief.
"There was a mindset of let's live on the edge of our own box in the first half and we just couldn't get out. We couldn't get Pat's off us, so fair play to them on that front.
"But yeah, when you take the lead, you go 1-0 up and we had a great chance to get 2-0... they're the moments that kill you."
John Mahon headed Waterford in front, but seconds before the half-time whistle, Sam Glenfield - who was on a yellow - dragged down Barry Baggley to concede a penalty that Chris Forrester converted. Glenfield escaped a second booking.
"If the truth be known, we should have probably went down to 10 men," added Coughlan. "That was probably a second yellow. But it was crazy. It was bonkers. Unexplainable really, to be honest.
"We stood off them too far, we gave them too much time, too much space. If you give bad players time and space, they'll hurt you. If you give good players time and space, they'll destroy you. I just thought we were too far off the pace of it, to be honest. So yeah, that'll take a few weeks, work that pressing fitness-wise.
"If we're not going to be able to outplay teams, we have to be able to outfight them and outrun them. So the lads shouldn't be too surprised what's coming over the next couple of weeks."
Expanding on why he took the job, Coughlan went on: "Look, I'm not shy when it comes to challenges. I wasn't as a player, I wasn't as a coach and certainly not as a manager. So it's a great challenge. A massive, massive challenge.
"But like I say, somebody's got to take it on. So why not me? I love the game. I love football. Being in the firing line, putting your body on the line, character, resilience. That's everything I am.
"I wish we were higher up the league. But I don't know, I just seem to attract those type of jobs where you're dead and buried. You try and resuscitate a team. I don't know why, I don't know how, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles."
"There's far too many occasions we're not getting the basics right."
He was forthright in his assessment of the Waterford team and warned big changes are on the way.
"Looking at some of the videos, looking at some of the games, there's far too many occasions we're not getting the basics right. So that's a start. That's where we need to start.
"We need to start on the training ground with our fitness levels. We need to understand what we're trying to do because we went off script in the second half. We tried to make passes and we showed that we couldn't. We got ourselves into all sorts of predicaments when we're trying to make passes.
"Just stick to the basics. Keep it simple. Be effective. Be strong in both boxes. Be focused. Be concentrated.
"I'd love to be able to bring in one or two other players to help us as well. There's no doubt one or two in the changing room will have to get off the bus. They've gone as far as they can with us. And that's just natural. There's no great secrets there. That's natural and that's what happens in football. So yeah, a huge mountain to climb."
