United Chief Executive Trevor Birch outlined the plans going forward for the Blades at the press conference to announce the appointment of Gary Speed as United's new manager.

You can watch Chief Exec Trevor Birch reveal Gary Speed as the new manager to the right for free.
Subscribers can see the full 10min press conference and hear from Gary Speed himself on BladesPlayer.TV

Mr Birch said: "I'm delighted to be able to confirm the appointment of Gary Speed as our new Manager on a three-year contract. This is clearly not intended to be a short term appointment on either side.

"He will retain Sam Ellis as his Assistant Manager, who has been asked to stay at Gary's request, and Gary will appoint his own new coach during the course of the next few days.

"I don't want to dwell in any great detail about Kevin Blackwell's departure, as this is Gary's day, other than to thank Kevin once again for the tremendous amount of hard work he's done over the last two and a half years for the club, much of it behind closed doors and unseen by the general public.

"We felt we had to make a change now to give us every opportunity of challenging for promotion and utilising the remaining two weeks of the transfer window to strengthen the squad if possible.

"We discussed the position with Gary and although he was part of the management team, the position of manager is sacrosanct and it is he who calls the shots in respect of team selection, style of play and tactics. Gary convinced us he has the independence of mind and strength of character to assume that role and make the best of the assets at his disposal.

"Gary was our number one candidate hence the speed of the appointment. He can hit the ground running, knows the staff, players and most importantly the demands of our supporters."

Mr Birch added: "With his strong pedigree and reputation in the game and his influential contacts, Gary has the ability to take this club forward to the next level. He's an achiever, he's driven, he is used to success and wants to be a great manager. I was with him this morning at the Academy and he was straining at the leash to get started.

"We are realists. We recognise this league can be unpredictable but we are convinced we have a squad which with a little further strengthening will be very competitive and Gary is the man to deliver what we all want at this club - promotion!"