Carlisle United close to announcing Paul Simpson replacement
Chairman of Carlisle United Tom Piatak's been giving us an update on the recruitment process
Chairman of Carlisle United Tom Piatak says their close to announcing the new head coach of the team.
It's after the departure of manager Paul Simpson last month (August).
The American owner says interviews for his replacement - which now include a Sporting Director and Head Coach - were done at the weekend.
Speaking to the club's website, chairman Tom Piatak said:
“We've been working on this now for two weeks and it's been a very thorough and deliberate process," he told CUTV.
"I would say the amount of candidates that have applied for both the Sporting Director and the Head Coach position has been amazing. I mean, almost overwhelming, but we wanted to take our time, and complete a very thorough, deliberate process.
“We've done that. We finalised the interviews over the weekend and we're very close to making an announcement. We're very confident that we found the right individuals and they're going to be moving forward with us.”
Tom was impressed by the standard of the those interviewed, he said: “I’ve been thoroughly impressed. It was a tough process because of the calibre of applicants.
“That tells me we're doing something right as a club. I know we haven't had the results yet, but that's why we're looking to make this change and bring these two individuals in.
“I'm confident that once they're in and they instil their style of play and how they want to coach, we'll start to see the results.”
Tom also spoke on how he’d found the process, given that this is his first experience of it in the football world, he said: “It's been very interesting. We've used a lot of the methodology that we use in other businesses.
"It was a panel interview. There were multiple people involved and that way, everybody gets a good look at the candidate.
“Because sometimes when you're doing the interviews, you hear one thing and you get fixated on that, but you miss something else. So by having seven or eight individuals involved in the process of selecting, I'm confident that we ended up with the right candidates.
“I think the club, Cumbria and Carlisle in general is going to be very pleased with the selections.”
After a poor start, we asked Tom if the aims for the season had changed, he replied:
“No, we've made it clear that promotion is still the target. If you look at the history, there's been many teams that have had starts like this.
“And that's one of the reasons we made the change as early as we did. We weren't getting the results that we needed. The style of play wasn't exactly what I thought we should be playing.
“We needed to make that change. By doing it as early as we did, I do believe promotion is still a realistic and achievable goal for this club.”
We asked Tom if, all being well, he expects the new staff to be in place for the Swindon game, he said:
“Yes, I do. I think that the announcements will be going out shortly. I'm thrilled with the selection that we've made and the choices that we've made.
“They're the right people to take this team forward. And I just can't for everybody to hear who they are, their experience and what they've been able to do. I think everyone will be very pleased with the selections.”
On the work done by Steven Rudd, Mark Birch and Jamie Devitt, Tom had some kind words to say:
“They have been a tremendous trio. I'm just so happy for them. I wish we could have gotten a result, almost for them, for the supporters as well, but for them, for the effort. They stepped up.
“They truly stepped up above and beyond their existing positions. I think they did a phenomenal job. I'm thrilled with all three of them.
“I'm just so pleased with them. I think they enjoyed the process too. They got some good experience coaching the first team.
“So I think they enjoyed it, but it would have been nice to get a result for them, for the supporters, for the club, but all three of them did a tremendous job. I'm so proud of them.”