Former Huddersfield Town chief executive Nigel Clibbens says he and Carlisle United manager Keith Curle must become “inseparable” if the Cumbrian club are to reclaim League I status.
The 48-year-old, who left Town in February, was made chief executive at Brunton Park at the start of last month.
Carlisle, relegated to League II in 2014, finished 10th last season.
Clibbens said: “I’ve been here many times and the atmosphere is exactly like you’d want.
“The club has shown it can comfortably compete in League I and the aim is to get back there.
“Carlisle play the kind of football fans love to watch.
“Not all football is played that way, but if you play in an attractive way, where the fans appreciate what you’re trying to do, with passion and spirit, then you’ve got half a chance.”
Of his partnership with Curle, Clibbens said: “We’ve got to become inseparable.
“The relationship between the manager and the chief executive has to be good. You have to buy into the same ideas and work together.
“We’ve got to do things that give us the maximum chance of winning football matches.
“Nobody is going to reinvent football and find the holy grail of what hasn’t been achieved for 150 years. It’s about finding the small differences.
“It starts from the due diligence you do on the players to the training regime, to how you get from A to B in everything.
“If we can be good on the pitch and good off the field we can get more people supporting us.
“That might bring us some more financial power which we can use wisely to make ourselves better.”
Clibbens joined the Town board in December 2008, having assisted chairman Dean Hoyle when he bought into the club, while working for accountants Grant Thornton.
He oversaw the day-to-day running for seven years, during which time promotion to the Championship was achieved in 2012.
Wakefield-born, he spent 10 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, working in insolvency, before joining Grant Thornton in 1999.
Over the next nine years he specialised in the financial restructuring and reorganisation of businesses, helping to develop and implement strategy and improve their viability.
