Donadoni took charge of the Partenopei late last night, replacing Edy Reja, who was sacked after his team's ninth game without a victory - a 2-0 loss to Lazio.

That run has seen them fall from fourth at the turn of the year to 11th in the standings and the former Italy boss knows he has to take stock of things before he can impose his mark.

"First, I have to look at the human material I have at my disposal," he said. "I will talk with Reja and with the players, then I will start to work.

"The personnel is important and we shouldn't be scared, it would be dangerous to upset everything.

"I have ideas but first I have to understand the characteristics of the players."

Napoli's form of late has seen them go from a side that looked a good outside bet for a Champions League berth to one that could shortly be in danger of being dragged into the relegation dogfight.

And Donadoni, who has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at the Stadio San Paolo, insists it would be ridiculous to even think about booking a spot in next season's Europa League at the moment.

"I'm here to work and to do as much as I can so that the team, with the support of the club and the president, can get as high as possible," he added.

"Everyone has to do their bit. But now the team are going through a period that's not easy, now it doesn't make sense to talk about Europe."