Rafael Benitez is convinced he can drag Newcastle back among the Barclays Premier League's elite once he has pulled off a remarkable escape.
The 55-year-old Spaniard was unveiled at St James' Park on Saturday afternoon 24 hours after replacing Steve McClaren at the helm with the club in desperate relegation trouble with just 10 games remaining in which to save themselves.
"I've spoken to some legends here - Peter Beardsley is one of them, Alan Shearer - I was talking to him the other day - Michael Owen, people who know the city and the fans, the passion."
They sit 19th, a point adrift of safety and in what appears to be a three-team fight for survival with Norwich and Sunderland.
But despite signing a contract which includes a break clause, Benitez, who like McClaren before him will sit on the club's football board, is planning for the longer term.
Asked what he saw the future holding for his new club, he said: "My answer is always the same: 10 games, that is the main thing. We will see what happens after that.
"After, we will consider the future and I have a lot of expectations as to what we can do. I think we will be at the top - I don't know how 'at the top', but the main thing is to concentrate on these 10 games then see what happens."
The immediate future will see Benitez send out his team for the first time at Leicester on Monday evening with relegation a distinct possibility after last Saturday's 3-1 home defeat by Bournemouth left them deep in trouble and ultimately McClaren out of a job.
However, the former Real Madrid boss, who called his players in from their day off to train on Friday afternoon, is confident he can steer the club away from the brink of disaster.
Asked if he can keep Newcastle up, he said: "I am here because I believe we can do it, for sure. I said before, we have enough quality in the squad. We need to give confidence to our players, to organise the team in the way that we want to do things, and I think we can do it.
"It will be difficult, for sure, but again I will say the atmosphere of the fans, everybody in the city is helping, so hopefully we can do well."
Asked about the clause in his contract in the event of relegation, he added: "Yes, but some people can see this as special, but it's normal. I am coming here trying to do my best to stay in the Premier League and if I have a compromise for the future, it's because I am convinced that we will do well.
"I want to stay here - that means that I want to win from Monday."
Benitez, who has been linked with the job at St James' on more than one occasion in the past, revealed he spoke to former Magpies Peter Beardsley, Alan Shearer and Michael Owen - but not managing director Lee Charnley until McClaren had departed - before making his decision.
He said: "I've spoken to some legends here - Peter Beardsley is one of them, Alan Shearer - I was talking to him the other day - Michael Owen, people who know the city and the fans, the passion.
"All of them know this is a massive club and if you do things in the right way and you can stay in the Premier League, you can build and try to be a hero for the city."
Benitez has established his reputation in the game as a manager who wins major trophies with big clubs, and having spent the first half of the season working with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale at the Bernabeu Stadium, he could face something of a culture shock on Tyneside.
However, he has no problem swapping the pursuit of silverware for a relegation battle.
He said: "When you're going for trophies, you don't want to make mistakes and when you're fighting against relegation, it's the same. In terms of the approach, it has to be similar.
"We have a good group of players, we have a quality squad. I expect 100% from them and we need everything from everyone."
