NEW Dragons boss Dean Ryan believes having a place on the board at Rodney Parade will give him the power to "kick down doors" to ensure his long-term plans don't come to a premature end.

The 52-year-old former Bristol, Gloucester and Worcester coach will leave his role with the RFU, where he had been head of international player development, to head to Newport on July 1.

Ryan is the replacement for Bernard Jackman, who was sacked in December halfway through a three-year contract, but will not have the same title of head coach.

The ex-England number eight will instead be given a wider remit of improving the immediate on-field fortunes and helping drive off-field change from the boardroom.

Ryan has come warning that this is not a "quick-fix, sharp turnaround" job and that it will take time.

Rodney Parade supporters have grown tired of being asked for patience but the new director of rugby believes his role and greater powers provides the chance to drive standards up.

"When you look at the challenge of the Dragons you know immediately that it's not just about having a different lineout or having a different backs move, it's about a number of different things that need aligning at the same time," said Ryan.

"The only real way to be able to influence those areas is to look at a different structure, to put yourself in different rooms, to knock on different doors, kick doors down to get to the situation where the elements that sit around the team are operating the best way.

"That way you start to have a chance, because it's still sport and you still have to fight like mad to make it work on the field, but to look at this as just a rugby challenge was the wrong approach.

"You have to look at it as how you build something so that in four or five years the blocks are in that allow it to go on be successful.

"Then it became a different challenge and started to get me excited about what it could be."

"Anybody from the outside knows that there are a number of challenges facing the Dragons," he continued.

"Everybody needs to be prepared to roll up their sleeves and take on those challenges instead of just pushing them onto the group that represent them out on the field."

Ryan will operate on a smaller budget that his Welsh rivals and will not have much money to bring in new recruits this summer, although the Dragons have already been working hard to secure the signing of Wales fly-half Sam Davies from the Ospreys.

The new boss is thinking long-term but is also aware that he needs to provide more cheer at a region that haven't recorded more than five league wins for the last four campaigns in the Guinness PRO14.

"I understand that fans want to see it now, because that is what sport is, so my responsibility is to get that balance right, but I also need to educate people that sometimes the now doesn't help you move closer to the future," he said.

"This is a project that requires an awful lot of work around the edges to keep supporting that group on the field to get better and create a better environment.

"If it's about what makes the Dragons a better place in two or three years' time then that is the right decision, if it's about thinking it will be better in the short-term then that's the wrong decision.

"We've got to get the balance right and I've been around long enough to know there are plenty of five-year plans that have not got past six months.

"If you allow it to be about next week then you run the risk of never getting any closer to what you think the future is."