Manly's win over the Dolphins on Thursday night has left the Dragons as the NRL's only winless side, ahead of Saturday's clash with North Queensland at Kogarah.
The Red V have been in all four of their matches this year, but are staring down the barrel of the joint venture's longest losing streak after eight straight defeats dating back to last August.
Flanagan inked a new two-year extension late last season to lock him in until the end of 2028, but admitted on Friday he was realistic about his situation.
"I fully understand it. If you're going to coach at a big club we expect to win," Flanagan told AAP at the Dragons' new state-of-the-art high performance centre in Wollongong.
"That's the cut-throat nature we're in in sport. You see it all over the world if you don't win.
"The club and CEO, chairman and board have been rock solid. But I am not silly enough to understand that if you don't win, they've got to change something.
"We can't change our 30-man roster, I can't sack 30 players. So guess what, it's (on me)."
Flanagan is one of the few coaches not to have been in this position before with this his 11th season as a head coach.
He took Cronulla to six finals series and won their drought-breaking premiership in 2016, before an NRL ban forced him out of the club in the middle of an off-season.
"I haven't been in this position before (with this scrutiny), I'm pretty lucky with how long I've been doing it for," Flanagan said.
"But I'm confident in what I do and the staff that I've got and the players that I've got.
"There probably has been a bit of an emotional reaction to it, but in the end, I care more about my players, my wife, the kids and (son) Kyle and grandkids.
"I worry about the reaction that has on them. I'm not worried about myself.
"The club has been fully supportive, the board, CEO and all that sort of stuff. But I'm a realist. You've got to win footy games."
Flanagan is yet to end the Dragons' seven-year finals drought in his two seasons at the club, but has blooded several long-term forwards.
He said it was now on them to find a killer punch to turn their season around, after giving up second-half leads to Melbourne, Parramatta and Gold Coast.
"You get ahead 14-12, the good sides put it to bed with a try. We need to find that try," he said.
"That's probably an experience thing with young side. But we're not looking for excuses, we're looking for outcomes now."
Meanwhile, Flanagan confirmed his five-eighth son Kyle was recovering well from last week's heavy concussion, which saw him taken to hospital.
There is no timeline on his return, with the mandatory 11-day concussion stand down to expire before next week's clash with Manly.
Flanagan has turned to 20-year-old Lyhkan King-Togia at No.6, resisting the urge to debut highly-heralded teenager Kade Reed.
"It's a matter of when for Kade," he said.
"I'm not saying he's not ready but we've got to make sure that he is and that time will come."
