Press Conference Continued
From the side of Conference Room a man walks out and on to the Podium.
“Good afternoon every one I am Stephen Baxter and I am here to answer any questions you may have at all.
Now I'm in no doubt that quite a few of you recognise me from the media, mostly down to my role as Chief Executive and Chairman of the multinational conglomerate Carlisle Group. I have stood down as Chief Executive but I will be remaining as the Chairman which the board has accepted mainly as Carlos Querioz will be handling the day to day running of the team. Better news for the club is that I will not be paid to manage Manchester United and in actual fact the entire backroom staff wages is being funded via the Carlisle Group saving several million pounds a year.
I did enquire to buying the club outright but was blocked by the Government on dubious grounds of it being anticompetitive. Lord knows why, I know Carlisle Group owns a lot of smaller companies in the media and leisure industries but nothing that big.
Anyway the reason I was approached to be the manager is that I have been a fan of the club for a long time now and I was negotiating with the old board into ways I could invest into the club. It was mentioned a while ago now that perhaps a different type of manager was needed in the modern era, one who knows more about the financial side as well as man management side.
So that brings me to the hard part, answering your questions. I think you can take it in turns as I imagine there will be quite a few questions.”
Daily Mirror Question: How does someone with no football management experience expect to get things to work?
“Well to be honest managing a football team is no different to managing a company. It has the same general principles of getting the best from the people you have and if you have a area that is under strength you try and recruit someone who is capable of improving the area.”
Daily Mail Question: How exactly our you going to work with Carlos Querioz and the other coaches?
“Well Carlos is a very good assistant manager, who in fact is a more than capable manager in his own right hence him being in charge of day to day matters like training etc. He will be assisted by the other coaches and back room staff as if he was the manager. I suppose it is fair to say in effect we are sharing the managerial role. He is the training and coaching expert where as I am the general manager. We will be discussing the best formations and who to play for each match between the two of us and any input from the other coaches. I will be implementing a few new schemes though when it comes to selecting the squads.”
The Sun Question: What transfers are you likely to make?
“Well so far I've not had that much of a look at the squad but Ricardo has been sold to Barcelona for £4 million. Also pretty much the entire youth team is available for loan so they can gain experience quicker playing first team football, albeit at smaller clubs.”
Daily Telegraph Question: What exactly are these new squad selection schemes?
“Well basically if a player gets less than 7 as a rating from the media after the match he is dropped for the next match, even if the team is short of players. Also expect some of the youngsters to get a fair few games as subs to give them experience.”
Daily Star Question: What formation are you likely to play this season?
“Well I quite like the idea of 2 strikers up front with a man behind them even if it leaves the midfield a bit light. It's basically going to be a 4-3-1-2 formation although a straight 4-4-2 or even a 4-3-3 formation may well be employed during the season. One thing I will not be playing is the Christmas tree rubbish.”
David Gill steps up to the podium.
“Thank you for your time Ladies and Gentleman that draws this press conference to a conclusion for today but you'll get plenty more opportunities over the coming months. We'll see you all here back at Old Trafford for our first home fixture of the season against Everton on August 18th.”
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