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"It's a strange day for me today to be honest because I'm obviously really looking forward to the new challenge but I'm also sad to leave, and sad to leave with the things that are going round at the moment. A lot of them are not the right things to say but there is nothing I can do about that. The way that it turned out was that last week I did an interview with you on Tuesday morning when I was interviewed in the office. I then left to go into town and was I sat having a cup of coffee outside Celebrations in town and I got a phone call from Fred (Story) to say that Preston had been on and asked for permission to speak to me.
"Fred asked for compensation, more than they were prepared to pay, and basically he just said to me that he would allow me to go and speak to them but he wanted to agree compensation first and he would let me know when that happened. He then came back to me an hour or two later and said that it had all been agreed and I could go and speak to them, basically he just said to me "I know you want to go and manage in the Championship so go and speak to them", and that was it basically.
"I went down, had a chat with Derek Shaw (Preston chairman) on the Tuesday night and felt it went really well. I came away and was under instructions from both clubs, to be honest with you, not to say anything at all about the matter incase it didn't go any further as there were a few people they needed to interview. Then I got asked to go back on Thursday to have a chat to a few other directors, and I got a call on Thursday night saying that they thought that I was going to be offered the job, but they needed to speak to one more director. "
" Then, if that was the case, they would approach Fred Story the next morning. I then got a call off Fred Story the next morning to say that they you have offered the job officially, go and take it if that is what you want to do. So I went down and spoke to them, they made me an offer, I didn't negotiate over anything whatsoever, I just accepted the contract that they offered me. Maybe that was foolish, I don't really know, but it wasn't about money. I then accepted it, the only thing that took a little bit of time, it took a few hours just to get ironed out, was wording on the contract. I wanted things done in a way that I felt was safe for me and also right for the club, and the solicitors sorted that out.
" I then went down on Friday afternoon to sign it after being told that it was going to be announced at 4.45pm on Friday rather than the Monday, which I was originally told. I'm not going to go into what went on with contracts, I'd been talking to Fred for a long time about contracts and we'd got to a point where I'd accepted everything that was being talked about. I'm not going to say anything more about the contract because there has been problems over wording, and something that was written in the paper, over the last two days.
" I've tried to do everything I possibly can to make this as smooth a pass over as it can possibly be. I've tried everything for the weekend to help Carlisle United, I'm not saying for a minute that I know everything but I can give advice on people in the game, and managers who they are wanting to talk to. I can give the opinion of what they are thought of in football, and try and help the club to appoint a new manager. All of that seems to have been forgotten in the last couple of days, and I'm just looking forward to clearing my office now and getting started on what is a new challenge.
" I will never forget what has happened here in my three years, it has been a wonderful chance for me. I think I've done a good job for the club, I don't think anybody can deny that, and I'm not being big-headed about it. I think I, and I think we, as a whole football club, and I include supporters in that, have been a very good team and it's worked very well. Football as it is though, the opportunity came for me and I didn't want to turn it down. I am exactly the same as anybody else, as a player who gets the opportunity to go and play in the Championship, as a Championship player who gets the opportunity to go and play in the Premiership. Or as a man who works on a building site who gets offered a better opportunity to go and work down the road on another one. I felt it was right for Paul Simpson and Paul Simpson's family to go and move to Preston and that's what I have chosen to do. "
" The clubs know the situation with the staff, both clubs that is. I've explained it very clearly to them, I've explained it as well as I could in the Press Conference yesterday that the staff who are in Preston at the moment are all under contract. I've been told to go in and work with the situation, and see how we all we get on and take it from there. Things haven't really gone as straight forward since yesterday, and I'm just in a position where I'm waiting to find out what the staff want to do. Whether they do want to stay, whether they want to carry on, and then we'll deal with it from there.
" As I've said all along, I'm a little bit angry at the way things have turned out over the last couple of the days but it's still not going to make me resort to any back-door tactics. I will do everything properly when the time is right, if the time ever comes, I will do it right and I will to speak to Fred Story about that. I'm sad at the way things have finished, but unfortunately I think that's the nature of football, it doesn't really happen well. I've had a chat to Andy Preece this morning and he said that is how it happened at Bury for him. It's unfortunate but that is how life goes on, we all move on and I'm looking forward to getting started at Preston.
" I'm not a negative person in any way, I'm looking forward to getting started and getting stuck to it. Hopefully Carlisle United will carry on and they will be successful, and things keep going well for them, and the supporters stay with the club and everything goes to plan. My thoughts now are on making Preston a good football club and hopefully being a good football team.
" I'd like to think that if I'm coming back that I'm not going to be run out of town, at this present time I've got no plans to be coming back to bring any Carlisle players. As I said in the Press Conference though on Monday, I'm not going to be daft enough to say I will never come back to Carlisle United, because then that is something else for people to throw at me. If I believe though that somebody at Carlisle United is going to make Preston better then again, I will do it properly and I will go through the right channels. "
" Me looking for my successor was something that was talked about weeks ago to be honest when Fred started saying to me that one day there was a possibility that I would leave the club, and he wanted my advice. I actually said at the time that that is a decision they have to make, I can give them advice on what these people are like and I've helped get them in touch with these people. I've done everything over the weekend, I've had phone calls with people who they have wanted to speak to, to sound them out to see whether or not there is an interest.
" I don't think that Carlisle United would actually listen to my advice as to who is right for this club, I've given them pointers as to what I believe and now it is up to them to go and interview and to appoint the right person. The only other thing I want to say is just a big thank you to everybody, it's as simple as that, the support has been unbelievable and second to none. I've been at Manchester City with 20 odd thousand, Wolves with 20 odd thousand, Derby – 18 at the Baseball, 30 at Pride Park, I've been at Blackpool where we had fanatical supporters and this is as good as anything I have ever seen. Just a thank you and good luck to everybody.
" I hope everybody moves on, it happens every other week in football. Nobody is ever surprised when a manager gets sacked, everybody says he deserves it, so why shouldn't managers and players deserve it if they go on to what they believe is better things. If it doesn't turn out to be better things then I'm sure there will be a lot of people who will be laughing but I believe it is the right thing. It's a magnificent career move for me, and it's something that I'm going to go and work as hard as I have done here. Learn from little things that I've learned in my job here, learn from things that I had at Rochdale and hopefully one day I will become a complete manager and move on again.
" I have total support for and from my family, it's what we believe is the right thing for us, at this stage of my career, at this stage of the boys lives and it's something we're going to go and throw ourselves into, as we've thrown into Carlisle United. I hope that in three years at Preston North End that people are still talking positively about Paul Simpson at that end. Hopefully the scars that people are showing at the moment at Carlisle United will all be healed, we'll all move on and we'll all just get on with it. "