New Burgess Hill manager Steve Johnson today insisted he will be in sole charge of team affairs, even though former boss Gary Croydon will still be at the club.

Croydon resigned at the end of last season but he is one three directors at Leylands Park, along with Eddie Benson and Garry Newton, and will still be an influential figure behind the scenes.

Johnson, the former Weymouth and Arundel boss, could be forgiven for being nervous about having Croydon around.

He axed Danny Bloor just months after he led Burgess Hill to the County League title and promotion in 2003 and installed himself as manager for a second spell.

However, Johnson, who was appointed yesterday by the three directors, is unconcerned.

He said: "Gary has said to me, It's your baby, you're in charge and I won't interfere.'

"He has been great and my job is to take the club forward after what he has done. I am excited about taking the job and it is a case of continuing the momentum Gary has generated at the club."

Johnson added: "I am not naive enough to think I know everything and Gary has plenty of experience at this level. I won't have any qualms about picking his brains.

"But they know I am my own man and always have been. It has got me in trouble at times and I will change the way I do things because you learn things along the way.

"It is now just a case of getting behind the steering wheel and putting the pedal down after what Gary has done."

Johnson, who guided Arundel to the John O'Hara League Cup in 2003-04 and has also coached at Lewes and Ringmer, is well connected in football and believes that is one of the reasons why the Hillians opted for him from a short-list of six candidates.

He said: "I think one of the reasons I have been given the job is that I broaden their player base.

"Burgess Hill Football Club is in a perfect position because it is not too far from London, we're near Brighton and it is central to all the areas I have worked.

"I will be trying to pull in those players that found Arundel or Ringmer too far away to travel to."

Using his contacts may be crucial as cash will be tight.

Mid Sussex District Council prosecuted the club for breaking floodlight regulations at Leylands Park last season and there was a danger star striker Steve Harper, who finished with 34 goals, would have to be sold.

Harper stayed, though, and with a number of young players coming to the fore, the Hillians pushed for a play-off spot before eventually sliding to a tenth place finish.

Johnson said: "I won't be making wholesale changes. It is not like when I took over at Weymouth and they wanted radical changes.

"Burgess Hill have been doing well anyway and have been relying on a lot of youth players, although, I know I won't win anything with 11 teenagers in the side."