Remi Garde insists he is not a magician as he tries to make Aston Villa's relegation fears disappear.
The new boss takes over with Villa four points from safety following seven straight defeats in the Barclays Premier League.
They are bottom of the table and host leaders Manchester City on Sunday in Garde's first game in charge.
Villa sacked Tim Sherwood last week and, in his first job since leaving Lyon in 2014 after turning down Newcastle earlier this year , Garde is confident the club can survive but knows the size of his task.
"I'm not a dreamer or a magic man, I have strong ideas," said the former Arsenal midfielder, who has appointed former Bastia coach Reginald Ray as his assistant.
"I haven't the certainty we will stay in the Premier League because the situation we are in is difficult but I have a strong belief we will do it.
"Maybe that was why I stopped at Lyon -- because you need strong energy for what I want to do - but now I think there are things I want to change. That is not saying what went on before was wrong.
"There is not only one way to win games but I have my ideas and a strategy that I want to implement.
"In football, things can change. If I didn't think I could change things I would have said 'No, this job is not for me', but I've got the hope that we can do it. I don't know what happened before, I was not inside and I can't judge. I can only focus on what will happen from now on."
Villa signed 13 players in the summer under Sherwood but Garde has spoken to Villa chairman Randy Lerner and chief executive Tom Fox about their January transfer plans.
Four players joined from Ligue 1 and while Garde admitted that is enough from France for now he knows he must be prepared to spend in the window.
He said: "We had this kind of discussion, but for the moment this is not the priority. I'm not silly, I know that in January it's a transfer window and until then I will have the time to evaluate the players.
"We will also have the time to win games. We would have played 10 games by then and I think if we need something the owner will be behind me."