CLUB: It's absolutely surreal

New United chairman Tom Piatak Sr landed in England this afternoon - and headed straight to Brunton Park for his first interview since the takeover of the club was confirmed.

"It's absolutely surreal," he said.

"Just looking around here at these grounds - being here before, but now being here as Chairman, it's a completely different feeling.

"I can't wait until tomorrow to see it when the house is crowded and buzzing with atmosphere, I'm just so excited and elated for it.

"Tomorrow is going to be electric, I think. What we see tomorrow is the vision and what I want to see every week.

"We have some work to get done here at the facilities, we know that, but if we put the right squad on the pitch and they're doing what they can do and we've raised the level of the facility to where it's good for the fans and it's a good experience, I want to see what we're going to see tomorrow every week. That's the vision we have. I know it'll take time to get there, but we want to see it happen."

The Piatak family watched their first game back in May when the Blues took on Bradford City in the first leg of the play-off semi-final.

Thus began the takeover process that concluded this week - but was there ever a time Piatak feared the deal wouldn't come to fruition?

"No, to be honest with you.

"The Bradford away game was an eye-opening experience. It's a beautiful facility there and we followed it up coming up here for the next week.

"Once we attended those two games we knew it was going to get done.

"We had to be patient and the former shareholders did a fantastic job vetting and making sure the club is getting handed over to, I think, responsible custodians moving forward.

"Those two matches - and that was before Wembley - if there was any doubt of getting it done, they were wiped out of our minds.

"We had to be patient and it did take longer. We wanted to get it done in the August transfer window but that wasn't possible.

"We're happy to get it done this week and we're happy to have the remainder of the season to get us to that safety zone in League One."

And that target has been clearly stated as the Blues look to pull away from the bottom end of League One.

"The number one priority - stay in League One," said Piatak.

"That's been communicated to the management and with Paul. We've had discussions and we all know that.

"I think that's a realistic goal and we can make some changes. If the current squad steps up and plays like we've seen then play in some matches then I think that's definitely attainable and should be our goal."

The new ownership are also set to back manager Paul Simpson in the January transfer window - and should sooner if required - to help in that goal.

"We've talked about budget and the change in the budget and we both [manager and Chairman] agreed on what that should be and what that level is," said Piatak.

"We're actively now talking to him about what his plans are short-term and in the January window - because some of that needs to happen now.

"We're excited about what we think we can do in January and have complete trust in Paul. He's a great manager - I believe the best manager in the EFL - and we're going to trust him."

Off the field, meanwhile, plans are already being drawn up for a Fans Forum in December - with Tom Sr and Patty Piatak set to attend the Northampton Town fixture on December 16.

"We'll make ourselves accessible to the fans whenever they want," said the Chairman.

"We're eager to see them in the Fan Zone tomorrow and we welcome the fans forum and having that open dialogue.

"We need their input. We have our ideas, but we're big on it needs to be collaborative.

"Fans forums - I think the requirement is two. If we have six, that's fine. Whatever the fans need, we'll make ourselves available."

And with the deal now finalised and a big game against Charlton Athletic on the horizon, Piatak is relishing his first game as the club's Chairman.

"It killed us to be in Jacksonville when this all went off," he explained.

"There was so much that had to happen so to travel with that being an unknown was difficult.

"Even employees at Magellan were watching it go out online and it was absolutely thrilling.

"We would have much rather been here, but it does give us tomorrow.

"We want to see what it can be, should be and will be going forward."

Read Time: 4 mins