'Players must buy in quickly - be fitter and sharper' - No-nonsense Coughlan clear on Waterford mission

The Blues were outclassed in Inchicore on Friday night.

Waterford's Manager Graham Coughlan dejected after the match. Pic: INPHO/Andrew Conan

New Waterford boss Graham Coughlan has already decided that some personnel are not equipped for his survival mission while the remainder must bolser their fitness levels.

Friday’s 4-1 defeat at second-placed St Patrick’s Athletic, coupled with Sligo Rovers drawing across Dublin city at Shelbourne, widened the chasm at the bottom to 10 points.

There’s still 63 points to play for and two of those games come next week when both Derry City and Drogheda United visit the RSC but the new boss realises immediate improvements are essential to mount a rescue mission.

“Our problem is the mindset,” he said after a match they took an early lead in. “We were sitting on our 18-yard line, playing more in hope.

“We can’t defend like that and expect to get anything from the game. I’m really disappointed with individual errors.

“It was a car crash, at times, in our box. These crazy moments must stop if we’re to climb this moment. We were on the back foot for too long.” Admitting some players have already reached the end of the road and will have to get ‘off the bus’, the reinforcements Coughlan intends to acquire through the Fleetwood ownership group cannot come until the window opens in July.

“We’ve got bigger battles ahead so need to get on the training ground,” he added.

“The players must roll up their sleeves, look in the mirror and get some consistency.

“I’ve to clutch at straws to cheer myself up. I need the players to buy in quickly. I need to be fitter and sharper, decisive in both boxes.

“We need variables for this to turn.

“With the way I want to play, we must be fit. We’re not going to pass teams off the pitch, keep the ball, make triangles, pass through the lines because we don’t have the technically gifted players similar to St Pat’s.

“We were too far off the pace of it, to be honest so this will take a few weeks to work on 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 players shouldn't be too surprised about what's coming at them from me over the next couple of weeks."