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MP
How long has this been rumbling on then behind closed doors?
JN
Well it hasn't been rumbling on long behind closed doors at all. Infact as we said last week, we were all very shocked and stunned. It was only three or four days earlier at the Southend match that we got an inclination that David wanted to take a back seat. Although he made a lot of criticisms on Thursday night, I have got to tell you that we had a meeting in the afternoon on Thursday afternoon, and at around 3pm it broke up.
That was a very frank but a very friendly meeting and at the meeting they tried and the chairman (Andrew Jenkins) desperately tried to persuade him to stay on because we have an AGM in about six or seven days time. But David really wanted to exit that afternoon and one of the owners (Steven Pattison) infact said it was like a bereavement, we were losing one of the family. We left that meeting all shaking hands having tried to persuade him to stay on.
His job at that time was to tell the other directors who weren't there and then ring the chairman back, and then we were going to put out a media statement because he wanted to concentrate on his own business. Now infact the chairman is still waiting for that telephone call so in the next hour and a half, I got a call just before 5pm saying to listen to Radio Cumbria. That was the first we heard of the comments or the statement, and I have got to say really two things.
First of all to Radio Cumbria, well done, you got a scoop on Thursday night last week and you get the information first and we heard it first on Radio Cumbria. The second thing I suppose I have to say is that we are just extremely disappointed in David because the things that were said and written should have been said an hour and a half or two hours earlier in the boardroom and we should have all discussed it. And it should have been discussed weeks and months in advance of that.
MP
So you are telling me that all the stuff that he came out with about it being an old boys' club and lacking vision and going stale, he never ever said that to you before?
JN
We never got into discussions into meetings before, inevitably when you have got four people who are joint owners along with the Trust of a business, there are going to be times when we don't always agree. And there were certain aspects we didn't always agree on.
MP
Can you give me an example of what you didn't agree on?
JN
Well, there are certain aspects, on the vision for the club we all agreed on the management plan for the club. We all agreed on the way forward for the club. We all agreed, but occasionally, and in the last probably six months we didn't quite all agree on the marketing. Now the team were having a little bit of a difficult time, and it is a question, do you put your money on actually improving the team and getting more people to come through the door? Or do you put your money into the marketing side of the business and try to improve the image.
So you have got a choice, but what infact we did was put our money on both horses. We employed a Business Development Director in March this year to try to improve the image of the club to bring in more businesses. But at the same time, and the chairman who has put in a six figure sum, rightly so has been trying to ensure that the money went towards ensuring that we got a good team.
MP
So you are guessing then, and that is all you are doing at the moment, because have you spoken to him since he walked out?
JN
The only contact that we have had with David since he left was through an e-mail, and he still insists he wants to help us and that is fine, that is great, but we have only had contact through e-mail.
MP
So you are guessing that you have fallen out over marketing and promotion?
JN
Potentially, and any other aspects I am not really sure what the other aspects are. But it isn't a time to look back, it is a time to look forward isn't it and at this point in time we have got to go forward. You have got to remember that last Thursday night we were looking at a club and Friday and Saturday that was on the back of the local press, it was on the radio, it was on the local television, the club was rocking. The owners, and the other directors, Dick Young, Lord Clark and Norman Steel from the Trust, all they did on Friday was to steady that ship.
MP
Did you fall out over Greg Abbott?
JN
No, certainly not, we never fell out over Greg Abbott, and Greg Abbott infact was amazing on Friday and his job was to steady the players. They came in on Saturday with what I would consider a magnificent performance, and do you know something, on Saturday night at 5pm there were 5,500 Carlisle fans that went home after a great performance happy.
I don't know how many people listen to Radio Cumbria but say 10,000 to 15,000, they were happy, 605 Charlton fans were less than happy and at three minutes to five six Charlton directors were a little bit glum. But that is what we should be talking about, the football.
MP
Well let's talk about where we are up to now and what the future might hold, is the club up for sale?
JN
The club isn't up for sale, but put it like this, there are two ways that you can run a football club. One is if you run it in a pure business fashion and two is the way that some other clubs are run, like Chelsea, like Liverpool, like Queens Park Rangers. Where you do a budget and your income or your outgoings are more than your income. Then you need somebody like (Roman) Abramovich to come in and put the extra £2, 3 or 4 million a year in.
MP
But are you pushing, are you pushing really hard to find a new owner?
JN
We are not pushing for a new owner but the door is wide open. If an owner wants to come in and invest substantially and change the business model of Carlisle United……….
MP
So why don't you really work at that then?
JN
Well people have approached us in the past, people have been interested, and if they want to carry on with that interest then we are very welcome as directors. I am sure all the directors left would stand aside and let a new owner come in with investment and move it forward, but we would want to see someone coming in and putting substantial amounts into the club. But the business model that we run at present is a business model we worked with Fred Story, and he is no slouch at business. It is one that says that we get to break even or slightly better and continue to reinvest in the club.
MP
And when David Allen said it was run like a old boys' club then, what did he mean?
JN
Well I am not really sure what David meant, probably some of the rules in the boardroom are a little bit the same, we don't allow jeans, we like ties to be on. But that is part of the history and the ethos of the club, that isn't an old boys' club, that is the way we are. We go into many, many boardrooms and in some boardrooms of course they will only let pure directors in. So it isn't an old boys' club at all.
MP
And the problem for you is of course in the short-term at least that fans are voting with their feet at the moment and staying away.
JN
Fans are voting with their feet at the moment and staying away.
MP
So what are you going to do about that?
JN
Well, fans are voting with their feet and staying away, but there are two or three things. First of all the team hasn't really performed particularly well over the last 12 months, we have had some difficult times. Secondly we have had a credit crunch as well so people have got less pounds in their pocket and they are choosing where they want to spend it.
If we don't give them entertainment on a Saturday and if they don't go home like Saturday night feeling really happy then they are not going to come and spend their £20 with us are they. So it is down, partially down to how we market the club, but partially and a great deal down to us winning and performing and giving them real entertainment on a Saturday afternoon.