NEWCOMER Neill Blake is relishing the challenge of overseeing the day-to-day running of Cherries.

Blake, son-in-law of chairman Eddie Mitchell, has been installed as one of two operations directors and he is based at Dean Court to handle club matters on a daily basis.

The 30-year-old, who performed a similar task with Dorchester Town before joining the new Cherries hierarchy, admits big hurdles lie in front of him and the club’s new owners.

But Blake is confident that, along with Cherries’ staff and fellow board members Mitchell, Jeff Mostyn (vice-chairman), Adam Murry (director of operations) and Steve Sly (director), he can help make the club a success.

The keen football fan told the Echo: “It’s definitely going to be a challenge but I’m looking forward to it.

“In the short time I’ve been here it has been fantastic. It will be hard work – I don’t doubt that – but it will be enjoyable and hopefully we can get the club back on its feet.

“We’ve got a very loyal team. With what they’ve gone through, they’ve stood by the club and there’s a lot to be said for the staff we’ve got here.

“We’ve got the main thing in common – we want to see Bournemouth succeed. Hard work now will hopefully bring success for the club.”

Blake, who was quick to stress that his services come at no cost to the club, also acknowledged that dealing with affairs at Dean Court would be a step up from what he was used to at Conference South outfit Dorchester.

He added: “I dealt with the day-to-day running at Dorchester. It’s something I’m used to but this is on a much larger scale.

“I’ll be here day-to-day but I don’t get paid by the club. I’m at no expense to the club whatsoever and this is what Eddie and I did at Dorchester.

“If you can have someone there on a permanent basis to answer questions and deal with problems it adds stability, so I will be based here and working full-time to get the club back on track.

“When I met with the team here, it became apparent that they have never really had any sort of leadership.

“Decisions need to be made and, if you’ve got someone here, those decisions can be made without too much time.”