BRIAN O’Donnell is taking a step into the unknown at Frome Town but says he’s looking forward to the challenge of helping his new side move onwards and upwards in the Calor League Premier Division.

The 56-year-old former AFC Bournemouth youth coach, who has also managed Poole Town and had most recently been working as a scout for Championship Middlesbrough, was appointed as the Robins new manager on Tuesday.

O’Donnell, who is based in Bournemouth, has been impressed with his first impressions of Badgers Hill and is excited to be back in management with Frome.

“I’ve been out of management for a few seasons now. For the last three seasons I’ve been scouting for Middlesborough, which was good, but I wanted to start taking part in games as opposed to just watching them,” said O’Donnell.

“I think it’s a decent level to get back in at. The club wants to do things right -they’ve got a long-term vision for the club and I want to help them fulfil it.

“They want to get as high up the pyramid as they can and they’re talking about ground improvements. They’re working to build a youth structure that’s capable of supporting that as well.

“I haven’t been involved in non-league football for a while but I know quite a few players from the Dorchester and Weymouth area. I don’t know an awful lot about this area but I’ll pick it up as I go along.

“It’s a nice friendly place and the players want to succeed –that’s the thing.

“It’s up to me to try and help them do that. They were bitterly disappointed by losing (to Chippenham Town) on Wednesday and that’s a good sign. You can build with that attitude.”

Frome Chairman Jeremy Alderman is hoping that new boss O’Donnell will bring a fresh outlook to the Robins.

“We had about nine applicants, whittled it down to three and then it came down to two – that was a hard decision,” said Alderman.

“In the end we went with Brian because we feel it’ll be something different because he’s out of the area and he’ll be looking at a different pool of players. His qualifications were good, as well as what he’s done and where he’s been.

“We are pleased that it’s gone quite quickly but to be honest, if the right man wasn’t there, we would have left it how it was.”

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