The only popularity contest that Billy Davies wants to win is on the field, as he told Nottingham Forest supporters questioning his Derby County links that he does not care less what they think and promised to continue being perceived as a difficult character.

“I won't change,” Davies said, after being unveiled as Forest's new manager yesterday. “Whether it's [calling me] hard to deal with, hard to work with or a pain in the a***. If it's fine enough for Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho and David Moyes and all these other successful managers, then it will be fine for Billy Davies. I am what I am.”

Forest appointed Davies on the back of his achievements with Preston North End, whom he led to successive play-offs finishes in 2005 and 2006, and Derby, where he went one better in securing promotion to the Barclays Premier League the following year before the dream turned into a nightmare amid wrangling with the board little more than a year ago.

Davies was dismissed from Pride Park two days after suggesting it would have cost £30million in player investment even to give the team a chance of staying up.

While Mark Arthur, the Forest chief executive, emphasised that Davies had been the club's “first and only choice” to succeed Colin Calderwood, who was dismissed on Boxing Day with the team in the relegation zone of the Coca-Cola Championship, opinion among fans at the City Ground has been distinctly divided. Not that Davies minds. “I couldn't care less,” he said. “I'm not disrespectful to the fans in any way but if I want them to get behind the team, we will do again what we had to at Preston and Derby, which is prove what we're capable of. That's about winning games and building up slowly. I'm very confident about the job in hand.

“With me being an ex-Derby County manager, a fair percentage of fans will think things, but our objective is clear: we want to leave this football club in the same financial condition as we did Preston and Derby.”

Davies will be given ample yet prudent backing by the Forest board but the manager will give everyone in “a young and vibrant squad with lots of potential” the chance to prove himself - including Robert Earnshaw, whom he made Derby's £3.5million record signing 18 months ago before barely picking him. Earnshaw moved to Forest last summer.

“I said to Rob that what has taken place in the past stays there,” Davies said. “This is a different group and a different environment. I've got great respect for him in the Championship - his record is second to none.”

John Pemberton, the reserve-team manager, will take charge of the team for today's FA Cup third-round match away to Manchester City when Davies and David Kelly, the new assistant manager, will watch from the stands. Davies said. “I will guarantee you I will be nowhere near that touchline.”