MILAN – After this morning’s shareholders' meeting there was a press conference held at the Westin Palace in Milan. President Erick Thohir, CEO Michael Bolingbroke, managing director Marco Fassone, CFO Michael Williamson and sporting director Piero Ausilio were all in attendance to answer questions from the assembled media. There were a great many topics covered, but the conference started with a statement from president Thohir himself.
"I think that the last 30 days have been very interesting and exciting. Obviously it’s important that everybody understands that the management team and shareholders are united. We want to ensure that Inter becomes one of the top ten clubs in the world again. The most important thing is to take the best decisions for Inter. In today’s meeting we’ve made our board of directors even stronger, and all for the good of Inter.
"I’d like to add that all of the decisions have been taken collectively. We’ve taken some tough decisions over the last few days: we’ve changed our coach. Our objective is Europe, and if that means the Champions League, even better. We’ve very pleased with Mancini and believe that he’ll be able to achieve our goals."
Upcoming games
"We have three games coming up and we want to get as many points as possible. We need to be putting points on the board. We've played 11 games so far and have another 27 to go. There's not a big difference in the league table and this was the right moment to change. We want to make sure we have a solid foundation on and off the pitch so that we can get back to being a top ten club as quickly as possible."
Future
"We're building our five-year business plan. The first step was the refinancing and now other clubs are following us in that. We want a strong Serie A that can be competitive and we want clubs that are sustainable. That's a decision taken by all the shareholders and the board. All the decisions we take will be based on our five-year plan."
Is the club's financial situation more complicated than you expected a year ago? Have problems arisen?
"When we came in everything was transparent, but there are always highs and lows when you manage a company. We have some intermediate targets for revenue, and sometimes you reach them and sometimes you don't. We've done several things in recent years: our agreements with Nike and Infront and we're soon to have a new Lega agreement too."
Squad
"Mancini is very happy with the squad but we have to see what he thinks about each of the players over the next few games. In any case we believe we have a good team here and Mancini believes that too. We've been clear with Mancini: we've spoken together about FFP and we're very open about everything. I saw him last night and he understands that we make decisions collectively. That's something I very much believe in and I want to build a team on the pitch too. The decisions we take are done with the aim of getting us into Europe, whether that's Europa League of the Champions League. We'll keep working towards that."
Ernesto Pellegrini
"I have a great relationship with Ernesto Pellegrini. I've also met him at the stadium before but we haven't spoken about these things. It's nice to know that people want to help Inter. We must understand that Inter is a family and it's hugely important to have the fans as a part of it. It's pleasing to hear there are people who want what's best for Inter."
Derby and San Siro
"The more support Inter has, the better. I'd like to say that it's very important for me that the fans support the team. San Siro must be our home. I've noticed that the players are more relaxed when we play away from home. It's a dream for me to come to San Siro, to enjoy myself and watch matches. Some people travel 15 or 18 hours and they want to see a live match. Some fans have the chance to see every game and it's important that they get behind the team - that they're always behind them. Now is the time to support the team and turn San Siro into our home. Inter deserve to be back at the top and we want to get points in every game."
Financial Fair Play
"Inter will always be Inter. It's very important to work together and we've done that well over the last year. Now we have a new board that makes us even stronger but Inter is still the same. We want to boost revenue from foreign markets. I spoke to Moratti about this at the start, he agreed and nothing has changed. It's not easy to do but that's the challenge before us. We want to be in top ten clubs for revenue."
CEO Michael Bolingbroke also spoke on this matter:
"As far as Financial Fair Play is concerned, there are a few things I'd like to say. As you know, we met UEFA in Nyon and that was the first step. The next step is for them to come here to Milan and we'll talk some more about our five-year business plan. They're looking at the numbers at the moment. Obviously any decision we take that affects our finances will be discussed with them and we're working in unison with them. As for the players, Mancini has come in and that's something we agreed on. We agree on our plans with him too."
The club gave their backing to Mazzarri right up to the end and then you decided to change. Why was that?
"It's important that the leader has the trust of the team. Last year Mazzarri got us into Europe and that's why we extended his contract by a year in the summer. But I said to everyone: we need results. Mazzarri is an excellent coach but at the end of the day if the results don't match up to your expectations then we as the management must make sure that we can achieve our targets. It wasn't a decision taken by me. It was a decision regarding Inter and it's not about not respecting Mazzarri. I always asked people to support Mazzarri and now I ask them to do the same for Mancini. It's a new project and it's important to give the team our full support. It's important for me to support my team: I'm an Inter fan when things are going well and also when they're not going well. We have to do things for Inter, not for my personal gain. We have to do it for Inter. We have three tough games ahead of us now. Ask me if I want to win them all and I'll say yes, it would be fantastic, but we know it's not going to be easy."
What opinion do you have of Silvio Berlusconi and what's your relationship like with Barbara Berlusconi?
"I've never met Silvio Berlusconi but I've met Barbara. I think she has a vision for AC Milan, it's a good vision and the fans should be happy about that. We also have a vision at Inter: whether it's a good one or not you will see from the results. We want to go back to challenging Juve and Roma at the top but we're still at the start of our project. We need time, like Milan does I think. Clubs are run differently in different countries and we can't just copy how things are done elsewhere because it's not the same in Italy."
Did you give Pallotta the idea of organising an operation like the one you did at Inter?
"Pallotta is from the US and it's quite common in the financial world because you want to plan for sustainability. The same goes for Berlusconi: he has his own strategy, just as Pallotta has his. There's nothing wrong with trying to understand what the best practices are. Last time I was in the USA, Bolingbroke, Williamson and I went to a big conference in Aspen that was attended by sports club owners from around the world and where people shared their experiences and best practices. What Moratti did for this club, winning 16 titles, is incredible. It's important to share best practices and ideas but we have to ask ourselves what's right for Serie A. By sharing ideas we can improve Serie A."
Bolingbroke then added:
"It was called Global Sports Summit and everyone owned sports club. There were parallel sessions in which everyone shared trade secrets. It was all done in a very collaborative, open way."
Finally, Piero Ausilio replied to questions about a clause in Mancini's contract and potential renewals for Kovacic, Icardi and Handanovic.
"There's no clause of any sort in Mancini's contract. It runs until 2017. We spoke about how our transfer plans will depend on whether we're in the Champions League or not. He knows that.
"As for the renewals, we've been having talks with Icardi and Kovacic for a few months. They have a while to run yet so we're taking our time to find a solution that satisfies both sides. They're our present and we want them to be our future too. We've only just started talking to Handanovic about it. We'll see over the coming months."
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