NEW boss Simon Browne has urged Wimborne Town's "keyboard warriors" to hold fire on their criticism and judge his appointment on merit.

Yesterday's unveiling of the 44-year-old as Steve Cuss's successor was largely met with dismay by Magpies supporters on the club's official internet forum.

But in a hard-hitting riposte, the former Hamworthy United manager asked doubters to dismiss the "romantic idea" of drafting in club-legend Taffy Richardson, who was one of four applicants interviewed for the position, and to "watch the games" before drawing conclusions.

Browne told the Daily Echo: "People are entitled to their opinion. The world we live in now means any individual, whether or not they have any football knowledge or common sense, who can muster the intelligence to tap things into a computer can do so.

"I won't necessarily disregard it because I would be naive to think I don't have things to prove but generally, that kind of stuff doesn't interest me. It will be about doing the right thing for Wimborne and pushing them up the table.

"If a few of them come back in a few weeks' time and say 'actually, he's doing alright', all well and good. If they still think I'm not the right man for the job then maybe I'm not going to persuade them.

"The romantic idea of wanting Taffy Richardson there is not necessarily the right thing. Taffy was spoken to and Wimborne didn't feel he was the right man for the job.

"Any keyboard warrior can write what they want but I'd say come down to watch the games and make your judgements then.

"If you're a supporter of the club, you want it to do well. It shouldn't worry people too much who is in charge or to a certain extent, who is playing as long as the team is doing well and you're seeing good football.

"People who know me will realise I give nothing less than 100 per cent. No stone will be left unturned to make a success of this so let people judge me when I have given it a good go."

Meanwhile, Browne has tasked his new charges with aiming for more than just Southern League survival this season with an eye on building foundations for future success.

On his objectives at Wimborne, who sit 18th with a three-point cushion over the Southern South & West drop zone, Browne continued: "While they have had a couple of good results in the past couple of games, I don't want the players going into the new era thinking it will be easy to turn up, go through the motions and get out of the lower reaches.

"A lot of hard work is required and I want us to be in a good position to be ready to attack next season. The club has ambition and a new ground coming so ultimately, the aim is to get to the upper reaches of South & West and even further. I am here because I want to be part of that."

Browne, who takes charge on Monday, has yet to appoint an assistant with talks set to take place "over the next couple of weeks".