COOL, calm, collected, Phil Parkinson may have arrived late into the press room but his appearance was a breath of fresh air in a club desperate for some stability.

For more than two hours the assembled media had stared at an empty seat at the front of the room, soon to be occupied by the now-former Bradford City boss.

Wanderers had blamed his lateness on traffic en route from his home near York – but this proved to be one final bluff in a managerial chase which has been anything but straightforward.

In truth, contracts were still being batted back and forth between the two clubs for Parkinson and his backroom staff. And though a late start to his first official duty was not ideal, the former Reading and Bury midfielder quickly made up for it by answering a stream of heavy questions without breaking his stride.

Open shirt collar, casual demeanour, Parkinson was a very different character from the last permanent boss who sat in that chair.

The problems which besieged Neil Lennon in the latter days of his reign are not entirely gone – but in the Chorley-born coach you get a sense of a man with a plan, someone who has not bought an overly-optimistic view of Bolton Wanderers without asking a few pertinent questions.

It emerged that Parkinson had only been given permission to speak with the Whites officially on Thursday – blowing any theory out of the water that he had been lined up for some time.

Whether Nigel Adkins or Steve Cotterill were at one point poised to take the job is a question better fired at the Whites ownership, rather conspicuous by their absence, but fans reaction to Parkinson has been positive in the extreme.

How long Wanderers have waited for some genuine optimism, something to distract them from the drudgery of the financial chaos that has enveloped the club in recent times.

And though it was clearly a wrench for Parkinson to leave Bradford after five years, he is very much looking forward to being the man who turns this grand old club back around.

“It was a really tough call to leave Bradford and I can’t thank the club and the fans enough for what they did for me,” he said. “They were some wonderful years.

“But I wanted a fresh challenge and when this came around it really excited me.

“I knew of an interest over the last few weeks through my agent and had a few days away for a bit of thinking time. The two clubs agreed a compensation package yesterday (Thursday) for me to come and speak with the club.

“Just before I boarded a flight I got a call to say things had been agreed and I was free to speak with Ken (Anderson)

“This is a club which has had an indifferent period but I think it’s ready to turn around.

“It can happen, as we know, and there are plenty of big clubs who have dropped down to this level – Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday – and sometimes the fall-out from the Premiership can be difficult.

“When I met the board they have a clear direction of what they need to do to get the club moving back in the right direction.

“I have got to get the characteristics back on the pitch that the fans want to see – the building blocks of commitment, hard work, desire, pride in wearing the shirt, the never-say-die attitude. If we get that then the supporters will be right behind the players.”

In surroundings which have driven good men to despair in recent months, Parkinson’s unflappable exterior might yet be tested.

But initial impressions are that he is the kind of cool character Wanderers will need if they are to negotiate the hurly burly of League One.

Not that Parkinson was making promises – at least not until he had been able to take a better look at the players he inherited.

“Success for me is getting the pride back in the performances and getting the characteristics right in the performances,” he said.

“After that, we’ll see where it takes us.

“It is hard to predict where we are going to be because there is so much work to do evolving this squad. In five or six weeks I might have a clearer picture.

“I am confident the squad will be a strong one.

“In three or four weeks, maybe a little longer, let’s see if we can build a squad which can challenge this year.”