Martin Jol called for patience after Fulham slumped to a home defeat against Cardiff.
Some fans called for the manager's head after Jordon Mutch's stoppage-time strike earned the Bluebirds a 2-1 win to leave the Whites stuck in the bottom three.
Jol has shouldered the blame following the reverse but believes he needs time to turn things around.
He said: "Fulham are not a club who should be in the top six. [The fans] expect us to do better.
"If you look at the players, I think in our situation we did remarkably well to get [Darren] Bent, [Adel] Taarabt, [Dimitar] Berbatov, Bryan Ruiz.
"But now it's late September and we have to play together. Today again, there's too many things which are new to them. But I don't want to use that as an excuse."
The defeat has turned up the heat on Jol, but the Dutchman said: "I think if you look at other teams as well, if you are in the bottom three or bottom five, even if it is early in the season, you get pressure.
"I take responsibility, because I can't say the players don't work hard. They work hard, they try to win games, but it is not easy for us to win games.
"I will always be calm and I hate it when people are getting worried and nervous, especially if they ask a manager to quit - that is awful.
"You never know what will happen with a new manager, because if we are bottom of the table at the end of the season it is not about me because I won't be here, it's about the club and I do not want to see this club at the bottom of the table.
"I know we can do better."
