Trevor Birch, newly unveiled on Friday as the Blades new Chief Executive from 1st December, met the media with Kevin McCabe and gave his first account of why he had been persuaded to take the job.
"I am delighted to be here and associated with Sheffield United, and naturally I am pleased to be back in football. I suppose that it is in my DNA, and to work with someone like Kevin McCabe who I have the highest regard for is a big challenge.
"The time is right for me to make this move and Kevin was very enthusiastic and very persuasive when he talked to me about the Club.
"He sold his vision for United to me very well and the way he talked about what he has put in place, plus the fanbase, convinced me that this is a big club in every way, and one that should be playing in the top flight.
"I want to be here for the long term and I am working with the Chairman on a structure for the Club's stability, because I don't think a football club can achieve success without it.
"It is a question of finding and harnessing the resources to get us into the Premiership and to stay there, but it might not happen overnight and patience might be the key initially.
"Kevin Blackwell and I have worked together before and I know him to be an extremely hard worker and well-organised. I think he was extremely unlucky at Leeds, and also here with injuries this season, but I'm sure he will sort things out.
"Kevin, the Chairman and I will be planning a strategy for what we can do in January with regard to player recruitment. Although I will be dealing with the off-field side of transfers and contracts, the manager will make the decisions on the players he wants.
"For now I need to get a feel for the Club, get to know everybody, look at budgets etc, hopefully finding out as much as I can so that decisions can be made quickly."
