Milton Keynes Dons

On the Club’s position...
We’re looking to make a decision that will help take our Club forward. I’m going to try and do something that everyone will understand. I admit I felt under pressure to try and do something quickly but the bottom line is that I want this to be a thorough process and I don’t want to be rushed into something. I don’t want to be the chairman who is happy to hire and fire and then hire and fire again. That’s not what we are and that’s not what we want to suddenly become.

On confidence in the backroom team...
The games are coming thick and fast but what we have built at the Club is a fantastic backroom. Richie Barker is a pro-licence coach and works with England. He’s a top-drawer person too. You also think about Paul Heald, Damien Doyle, Simon Crampton and their teams. Let’s be confident in what we’ve got here at the moment. We’ve got people battling to do a really good job for us. We’ve got a team who know there’s a new manager coming in and that the spotlight is on them. I expect to see performances from them.

On Richie Barker...
Richie has made it very clear he doesn’t want the manager’s job but whether there is a role for him here moving forward, that’s something I’d like to find for him because when you get that commitment out of people you can really value that.

We’ve been talking to people and what’s been flattering is the amount of people that have expressed interest. I’ve been on the phone continuously now for a couple of weeks. You owe it to those people to do your due diligence. I’ve got a very open mind. There are some really experienced managers there too and I’m not writing them off. I don’t want to write anybody off because we’ve got some very good managers on that list. We are a different club, though. We are MK Dons and we have a different style and a different way of being. Ideally, I’d like a manager who fits with that philosophy. For me, it’s finding out what does this appointment bring to our Football Club? What does it do in the short-term? What does it do in the medium-term? And what might the long-term effects be too because we’ve also shown we’ve got staying power. There are also lots of things that come together to make a great management set-up. When you think back, you think of Paul Ince and Ray Mathias, you think of Karl Robinson with John Gorman. It’s not always just about the individual either.
On the candidates...

I don’t want to be that chairman who interviews five different managers and has no intention of giving four out of the five of them the job. That’s not us. We interview people who really want to do the job, who will be a serious proposition for us. I need in an interview, if it goes really, to be able to say ‘let’s go and do it’ there and then.
On interviews...

I think we are going to take another couple of weeks. I know this might sound frustrating to people but I want them to understand that we haven’t changed a manager for six-and-a-half years. I’ve always been very successful in appointing managers. I’ve always had time to do that when I’m doing it in the summer. This time I’ve felt under more pressure because time is more limited but I still have to do it the right way. If I do something and I regret it, then that will be something that will live with me for some time. I’m not going to make a knee-jerk reaction. I hope that the supporters understand why it is taking a little bit more time than people might like. It is that important. However much pressure I’m under to give answers I’m not ready to give them yet but hopefully over the next couple of weeks we will be. What’s my real time frame? Before the end of November.
On taking time to appoint the right man...