Robinson vows to do it his way

I love this time of the season. The ground looks fantastic, the players are raring to go, everything is fresh and exciting.

Of course, sustaining that feel-good factor throughout a long summer is one of the hardest challenges for any coach, whether you've been doing the job for years or embarking on it at this level, like me, for the first time.

Personally, it's a massive challenge following Peter Moores. I got to know Pete well after I came to the county as a player in 1997. He built a solid reputation both for himself and the way Sussex play their cricket. He's left me a great legacy - we're in the top divisions in both leagues for the first time in our history and we have a squad which has a nice look about it. Bags of experience, a number of players on the verge of making a real breakthrough and youngsters with so much potential.

What I want to make clear is that I'm the first Mark Robinson, not the second Peter Moores. Of course we share a lot of the same beliefs and we can live up to the image of stubborn northerners at times. But we do go about things in a different way.

Perhaps I'm not as intense as Peter, although you'd have to ask the players that. What I would stress is that, as I've settled into my new role, I've had fantastic support from the guys around me. Like myself, Mark Davis is embarking on a new challenge coaching the second team for the first time. Keith Greenfield seems like he's been here since the day the ground was built. Both are massively committed to Sussex cricket and great people to bounce ideas off.

There's a lot involved in my job and I think it will be important for me to not get pulled into areas where I don't want to go this season - little things like sorting out where the overseas players live for instance can be an unwanted distraction.

In a way, I'm probably more of a director of cricket than Peter was. I think I could tell you who the best players are at every age group in our system and who are the potential stars in our Academy. My focus has to be on the first team but I'll definitely be keeping one eye on our long-term strategy as well.

So what sort of season are we going to have? Well, we definitely have the team to win something - did you expect me to say anything else before the first game?

The Championship has to be the target. I see a few of the pundits have marked us down for a struggle and consolidation seems to be a theme in the previews of the new season.

Consolidation? I hate that word. As soon as you start using it people drop their standards, whatever the sport.

We aim to play hard and win. There might be games which end in solid draws but I don't want us to settle for that. I'd rather be disappointed after a game that we didn't achieve what we'd set out to do than not aim for it in the first place.

Whatever happens, I think things will be fine in the dressing room because of our cricketing principals.

You sometimes have to wonder how a county like Sussex, which doesn't stage international cricket (unlike our eight first division rivals) can compete.

We may be small off the pitch but we're definitely not small on it. We've got some really talented players and we make the best of everyone.

Looking back, our best signings have tended to be guys who were a little unloved elsewhere. Everyone told us not to touch Mushtaq Ahmed with a bargepole. No one had ever heard of Rana Naved. Players who don't buy into the Sussex ethos - that feeling of togetherness, of being the underdog a little bit - don't tend to last.

That togetherness hasn't always been evident - there have been some dramas in my eight years here because team spirit is a fragile thing. What's crucial is making sure those cancers don't spread, that everyone stays true to our beliefs.

The most important personal relationship for me is obviously with the captain. How will it work? Well, there is no magic formula. If we've had a bad session Grizzly tends to have his say and I would never go over his head. Sometimes, of course, I won't be able to stop myself and there will be tough times I'm sure.

But we have a lot of the same principals about the game and as long as we're true to ourselves and each other we will be fine.

Pre-season has been excellent although it was difficult in some of the early friendlies because of the absence of so many of our top players - guys like Mushy, Matt Prior and Murray Goodwin.

It's given the younger players opportunities and by and large they have taken them. Tim Linley played in all of the first five one-dayers and will have learned a lot about what is required at this level.

All the batsmen have got runs under their belt. If I had to single anyone out it would be Richard Montgomerie.

It's been like having a new signing. I think Monty is going to be the rock of our batting order this season remember where you read it first!

Mike Yardy had a disappointing England A tour but we've rehabiliated him and I'm looking forward to seeing how Carl Hopkinson adapts to the challenge of opening on a regular basis. Hoppo has been here six seasons but he only really started playing Championship cricket last season and he's ready to try to establish himself.

Bowling-wise the difficulties James Kirtley has faced during the winter have been well documented.

It's been a tough journey for James, figuring out what works and what doesn't. But he'll be okay because he's a winner - simple as that.

We've taken a bit of a punt on Duncan Spencer for the first month of the season and it will be interesting to see how he shapes up. And I'm looking forward to watching Ollie Rayner develop. It could be that our spinbowling resources won't look so thin once Mushy eventually retires as a few people think.

Whatever happens, I hope we can rely on the backing of you - the Sussex supporters. I know that sometimes you get frustrated with performances and rightly so. Like me, you care passionately about Sussex cricket. Someone had a pop at one of the players on the website messageboard recently and I went on there to defend them. Don't worry - the players will all know if they don't meet the standards we require but negative criticism does affect them and, where I think it's appropriate, I will defend them.

What I love about Sussex is that feeling of togetherness - and that includes the supporters. We're all in it as one and as long as we maintain that spirit we'll continue to punch above our weight.