THE CLUB'S VOTE TO SUPPORT THE CONTROVERSIAL EFL TROPHY PILOT SCHEME - WAS THIS TAKEN BEFORE YOU JOINED?

The board of the club had taken that decision before I arrived. However, if I had been here, I would have supported the trial.

I've made my reasons pretty clear on why. I think already, as it's panning out, how it's developed even in the last three or four weeks, is evidence we need to factor in when we come to the end of the review.

If we hadn't done the trial, we wouldn't have known this. And then people might have rightly been criticising the clubs and the Football League, saying you're holding things back, you're resistant to change.

From my perspective, all my career's been about changing things. But I can understand that doing things differently, especially in a competition that Carlisle's done so well in, is sensitive. I really take that on board.

But I'm sure everybody wants a better competition. This gives us an opportunity to see if these changes can deliver a better competition. The evidence so far, we need to consider when we get to the end of it.

BUT SHOULD THESE DECISIONS NOT BE TAKEN AFTER A MORE OPEN SEEKING OF FANS' VIEWS?

I don't think you can consult on every single minutiae of how you run the club. I don't think anybody's saying that anyway. The management's there to make management decisions. Sometimes, based on more information than the fans have got or can be told, for various confidentiality reasons. That makes it difficult to consult on everything.

That said, my view is a club needs to understand the feelings of its supporters, and factor them into the overall decisions that they make. But also, the clubs need to behave in a way that reflects what their fans generally want their club to be like.

Do we want Carlisle United to be at the forefront of advancing the game, making our opinions heard, trying new things? Or not? It's hard to say from judging on Facebook [comments], and things like that, what the overall picture is. You need to have a better way of finding out what all fans think and not just the most vocal.

But it's not getting away from the point that almost every Carlisle fan that I've seen thinks the competition is adversely affected by having these [Category One academy] teams in. We'll see if they're right. I don't know. I'm not saying it will be better or worse. I want to see. We'll see what actually happens.

BUT SHOULD THIS GATHERING OF OPINIONS NOT HAVE BEEN DONE BEFORE THE CLUB CAST ITS VOTE?

The club had taken soundings from the fans, I believe, about its views on the Whole Game Solution proposal, and within that [there was] a question about this.

I know that when the debate was had with the Football League, the issues the fans had raised were debated. The fans' feedback was taken into consideration and shared with the other clubs, to say we're making this decision in this context: "There's not support from the people we're speaking to, for it. But we're still going to give it a try."

So everybody needs to be aware that we're taking a risk going against general opinion here. But we're doing it for what we think are good reasons.

Sometimes you have to do that when you're in a leadership position. In football, I've experienced it many times. Sometimes the most popular decision is not necessarily the right one. I don't think there's a right and wrong one here. We're just giving it an opportunity to see how it goes. And we'll see.

YOU STRUGGLE, THOUGH, TO FIND SOMEONE IN THE CARLISLE SUPPORT WHO THINKS IT'S A GREAT IDEA. SHOULD THAT NOT BE THE PREVAILING OPINION THAT THE CLUB ACTS UPON, RATHER THAN 'WE KNOW BETTER'?

I think it's not any attempt to say we know best, we know better. What it's trying to do is to say - we've got an issue, we need to try and make the competition better.

The proposals put forward, the view of the fans, our fans that make their views known, the general view is they don't like it. They think it's going to fail. Do we just say we won't try it, and we'll never know?

If this doesn't work, we can stop it. And we'll know for certain. Whereas if we hadn't tried, we'll never know. For the sake of one year, we took the view that was worth the trial, as opposed to the feedback that said we're not going do it. That's the logic of the decision.

Not everybody's going to agree with it, not many do at the moment. I'm always open-minded about these things.

SOME PEOPLE PERCEIVE THAT WHEN THE PREMIER LEAGUE WANTS SOMETHING, IT TENDS TO GET IT, CERTAINLY FROM THE LOWER-LEAGUE CLUBS. IF WE DON'T WANT THIS EFL TROPHY SYSTEM NEXT YEAR, BUT THE TOP-FLIGHT DO, WON'T THEY SIMPLY THROW A FEW MORE QUID IN, TO THE POINT WHERE AGAIN IT'S TOO GOOD TO TURN DOWN, AND THAT DEPENDENCE CONTINUES, WHICH SEEMS QUITE UNHEALTHY?

I think the Leagues One and Two have always been more hawkish in dealings with the Premier League, and how they wanted the League to negotiate with the Premier League, than the Championship clubs. That's been my experience in the eight years I've been involved. It's been the Championship clubs who've been more amenable to being closer to the Premier League. So I disagree with the point about the Leagues One and Two clubs rolling over in the future.

There needs to be a degree of understanding and honesty of what goes on here. In various sources, the Premier League provide a huge amount of finance to the Football League, through solidarity payments, and through funding of community schemes, academies, things like that. Whether anybody likes it or not, the Football League clubs - including this one - its financial fortunes are inextricably linked with the Premier League.

I've always viewed that the Football League and Premier League operate in partnership. There is solidarity between them, there's an acceptance that the Football League needs the Premier League, but also there's an acceptance in the Premier League - and I believe this - that they benefit and need a strong, structure and pyramid underneath provided by the Football League.

You only have to look at some of the best players playing in the Premier League and are English, and where they've come from. Dele Alli, the latest superstar, has come from MK Dons. John Stones, who's probably one of the few players who could command a place in one of the top La Liga teams, and he started at Barnsley.

There is a solidarity, the two leagues are inextricably linked. In terms of the club working together with its community, its trust, the people around the club, you have to work together. So if the Premier League comes forward with proposals, and there's issues that the FA is dealing with in terms of making England better, it's important clubs sometimes look past their immediate short-term interest and take a wider view.

So therefore doing a trial which might have a positive impact on other people in the game, as long as it's not detrimental to you, you've got to look at it carefully rather than dismiss it and say we're not doing it because we don't like it.

Those are the tough decisions that you've got to deal with. But the Premier League impacts on everything that professional clubs in England do. It's significant, and therefore you've got to work in partnership.

THE ELITE PLAYER PERFORMANCE PLAN (EPPP) IS SEEN BY SOME AS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE FLEXING ITS MUSCLES AT THE EXPENSE OF LOWER CLUBS, AS IT IS NOW EASIER FOR THEM TO POACH YOUNG PLAYERS SOONER. AGAIN, THERE WAS MORE FUNDING OFFERED TO GET THAT THROUGH. THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE SOLIDARITY.

I think when the EPPP was brought in, there were lots of concerns about the impact it would make on youth development in the Football League, how it would make it impossible for many clubs to justify continuing to develop players, because the ones that used to come along, keep paying the bills and subsidising the long-term development of everybody, that opportunity would go away, because the stars would never reach it.

There were fears of wholesale clubs pulling out of youth development, and the Premier League would hoover up huge amounts of talent from everywhere and almost treat these boys not as children, and almost use them as warehouse commodities until the next one came along.

As it's panned out I think the top Premier League clubs have focused on overseas youngsters, which is an even bigger issue in my mind - minors coming over from overseas, and that's a real hot topic, as opposed to coming to Carlisle and picking out our next up and coming star.

It has happened. It happened to a player that I had who went for minimal compensation, and it leaves a sour taste, when you've done a lot of hard work from eight to 12 and then they just disappear. But the clubs had the opportunity to push back on things like this. Nobody forced the clubs to go down this route.

BUT IT WAS MADE CLEAR THAT THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS WOULD BE GREATER IF THEY DID…

But these are choices that clubs made. In the past I've been a strong advocate for Financial Fair Play in order to make clubs more viable, and therefore reduce the reliance on Premier League monies.

For a period clubs embrace that. Then they've gone away. In the Championship you can lose £13m, which gives you a really whopping wage bill, but the solidarity money, the £2m+ that comes every season from the Premier League to a Championship club, is most welcome. And for many smaller Championship clubs that is a significant amount.

So you can't just say no on that basis. It's not just Premier League clubs reliant on that. Clubs in the lower divisions who, if that cash wasn't there would be totally unviable and they don't have an owner or means to plug that gap, would be at severe risk.

These are not easy decisions to make. But once you start going down a road you can't unwind the direction you're travelling with.

BACK TO CARLISLE SPECIFICALLY - HOW WILL THE HIRING AND FIRING PROCESS WORK FROM HERE, FOR EXAMPLE WITH MANAGERS? IS IT A COMMITTEE DECISION OR SOMETHING YOU WILL HAVE AUTONOMY ON?

Fortunately as we sit here now that's not a problem we have to deal with. It's not one that's at the top of our agenda. It's one we're going to work through, while we've got other things to deal with.

It's the sort of thing we need to get right. In a club where you've got one owner, who puts lots of cash in, it's his individual club. And therefore the decisions come from him. And you don't need special structures to try and deal with those...the route is straight to one man.

Where you've got clubs with multiple shareholders, you need to have a proper mechanism for reflecting everybody's views. This is the bit we need to look at. Those sort of details you work your way through. I know at other clubs, there are different ways of doing it. The key bit is there's clarity of roles and responsibilities.

FROM YOUR CAREER OUTSIDE FOOTBALL, WHAT SPECIFIC EXPERIENCES CAN YOU APPLY HERE?

I spent many, many years looking at businesses that were in trouble financially, businesses that were underperforming and needed to do better. I've worked with many in terms of improving them and turning them around.

There's lessons in everything. From things such as identifying the pitfalls really early, and the risks, and not getting into trouble before you start. Recognising the factors that bring real success, which from my point of view is people, plans implementation, culture, so you can operate in a way that gives you the best chance of success.

You don't have to be an expert to look at the clubs that are most successful in football, sport, elite sport and see the characteristics that make them successful, and look at the ones that are not successful, or underperforming.

In many cases, having the most money doesn't guarantee everything. It's what you do with the resources you've got, whether that's people or cash, or ideas, you've got to make the most of the talents you've got. All too often football clubs think, our answer is just let's go and buy another player, and you usually find out the answer after that is buy another player. Or get another manager. But then it doesn't quite work out, so we'll get another manager.

I think you have to have more structure and organisation, and more vision of what you're trying to do, to cut through that, otherwise you're constantly in a state of reinvention and trying something different again, rather than sticking to what you think is going to do the best for your club, and then seeing it through.

There's no certainties in football and sport, you do have ups and downs, and therefore you have to, in my view, believe in what you're doing, and when the going gets tough you've got to have commitment to what you're trying to do, rather than saying, 'Oh we've got a problem here, let's do something different'. That's part of how I see success coming.

YOU ARE A USER OF TWITTER - HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO USE THAT IN THE RIGHT WAY? THERE HAVE BEEN RECENT EPISODES WHEN PEOPLE AFFILIATED WITH CARLISLE UNITED HAVE FALLEN FOUL OF IT OR USED IT ILL-ADVISEDLY, AND IT CAN BE REMARKABLY DAMAGING.

I don't think it's remarkable. I think social media is a really good tool amongst many to connect with supporters and engage and communicate with them. But it's not without its risks. I've learned from using Twitter over the years. Sometimes no matter what you say, it's sometimes better just to say nothing.

And there are certain things to stay well clear of all the time. You've got to learn and understand the power and reach of it. Once things are out there, they're out there forever. Things said in all innocence as a passing comment can really have an impact and an enduring one.

It's a great tool. It's a tool for positive good. But you’ve got to use it advisedly. It's a good way of connecting with people.

THE LAST MAN TO FALL FOUL OF IT WAS THE FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT AND SPONSOR ANDY BELL [WHO RESIGNED OVER HILLSBOROUGH-RELATED TWEETS]. IT WAS A COMPLETELY REGRETTABLE EPISODE FROM START TO FINISH. THERE ARE LESSONS THERE FOR ANYONE, SURELY?

I understand what happened, but I can't rewrite history, so I only look forward and look at the lessons to be learned.

The lesson I learn from that is you've got someone who was a committed fan who put his hard-earned cash into the club, which was of benefit to the club, which helped make the club better than it otherwise would be, and is now no longer involved.

That's not good for him, as someone who loves this club, and was committed to it - it's not good for him that he no longer feels he can be associated with the club. It's not good for the club, because they've lost someone who was valuable to them. And every single supporter's valuable - we can't afford to be losing fans.

So that episode, it's been no good for anybody. However it's happened, it's not done for any useful purpose, and the club's feeling the pain of that and that individual is. So nobody comes out of that with anything to show for it all, which is really sad.

Forgetting what was ever said, that can't be right. Trying to unwind that and turn the clock back is difficult. Things like that take time to heal, and in the meantime everybody suffers.

SOME OF HIS ADVERTISING SIGNS [FOR BOOKIES.COM] ARE STILL VISIBLE AT BRUNTON PARK. WERE PEOPLE TO SEE THOSE AT THE FIRST HOME GAME OF THE NEW SEASON, THEY MAY ASK WHY?

I think, in due course, the signage for all people who are no longer involved with the club eventually gets taken down. And it will be in due course. But maybe we should keep that up as a reminder to everybody, and a salutary lesson.

THE CLUB ARE ALSO PILOTING [ALONG WITH ACCRINGTON IN LEAGUE TWO] A VERSION OF THE 'ROONEY RULE' - HOW WILL IT WORK IN PRACTICE?

The club's at the vanguard of trying to make a difference - again, a decision taken before I came along. I don't know whether they consulted anybody, or what the views of the fans might have been, but it's a decision the club have taken, and hopefully it would be one that would be a bit more welcome than the Trophy.

I think everybody knows there's an issue in the representation of BAME -black, Asian, minority, ethnic groupings - it's there for all to see. Something happens between guys who are involved playing, and who then join in the game after. Something has to positively change to break what's been happening.

I think it's good that the club's doing what it can to do that. Hopefully, with the hiring and firing of managers, it's not something we have to think about in the short-term, but we're strong advocates of equal opportunities. That's what we'll do - we'll support it.

SHOULD BOARDROOMS ALSO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION? YOU DON'T SEE LOTS OF BLACK FACES IN BOARDROOMS…

In most boardrooms it's white, middle-aged businessmen who are older than me. You don't see many women, the representation isn't very diverse at all.

I think with the growing number of foreign owners at the higher level, it's changing. I think there'll be a trickle-down effect over time. All clubs need a diversity of people in them, people with different life experiences and perspectives.

I'd like to see football be more reflective of the fanbase that come and watch.