New Nagoya Grampus manager Akira Nishino vowed to turn the former J.League champions back into contenders at his unveiling on Friday.

"I've been on the Asian stage, the world stage and I don't think this team is too far off," said former Gamba Osaka boss Nishino, who has 244 coaching victories, the most in J1 history.

"No one can change things overnight with some magic spell. You've got to take care of things one step at a time," he said.