United owner Fred Story spoke to us this morning ahead of the announcement that Dennis Booth would be returning to the club as Temporary Assistant Manager.

He said: "We're pleased that we are able to make this appointment because we see it as a really positive move for the club. Dennis is a vastly experienced coach and, as he has shown us before, he is the type of character, with the way he goes about things, who can help to move the club forward. That is exactly the direction we want to be heading in. We're looking forward to having him back with us, and I know he is also looking forward to coming here and working with Greg."

On the events of the last few days, he told us: "Any decisions that are made are always made with the intention of doing what is best for this Football Club. Sometimes you have to make really tough and unpopular decisions, but the fact is that you have to be prepared to do that for the long term benefit of the club. Actions like this are never taken lightly but, if you think that it is the right thing to do, then you have to act accordingly. I think we have done the right thing, and the board think that we have done right thing, so we now have to make sure that we continue to make decisions in a way that will see Carlisle United continue to grow and progress, both on and off the field."

On the appointment of Dennis, Caretaker manager Greg Abbott told us: "Obviously the last few days have been difficult, but football is a tough industry and you have to get on with the job at hand. Our immediate job at hand is the game tonight, which we are all very focussed on, and then we look forward to welcoming Dennis in to the fold on Thursday morning. I think everyone knows about the things that Dennis will bring with him already. He's got vast amounts of experience and knowledge, and there is the added bonus for us that he knows how the club works. He also knows some of the players, so it will be a really smooth transition, and that's as much as you can want in a situation like this. It'll be really good to work with him, and I'm looking forward to having him here."

Team captain Paul Thirlwell added: "Dennis has the experience of being at the club before and that is going to help. A lot of the lads know him and it will provide a bit of continuity. Greg is an excellent coach anyway, but it will be good for him to get some help and it is all a very positive thing as far as the players are concerned."

"To be honest," he said, "as a player all you can do is focus on the games that you have coming up. This has been a particularly busy time anyway, with 3 games in 8 days, and we're really just thinking about the Bury game tonight at the moment. I should imagine the club is being bombarded with requests for more information, but we can't get involved in that. We have our own job to do and we are concentrating on that. Obviously what happened yesterday came as a surprise, and it's always a sad situation when you see somebody lose their job, but you can't take too much time to think about it. You always have to look at what is ahead of you and, as far as the players are concerned, Greg is the ideal choice to keep us moving forward. We'll be doing what we can to make sure that he gets the job, starting tonight at Bury."