 We're joined now by sporting director for New York City Football Club David Lee and David thanks for a few moments and Maybe trying week isn't the right term But you mentioned in the press conference after Ronnie Donald went to standard Leedshow This had been something that had occurred since the end of MLS Cup and what you guys were working on at what point did you say? You know what? I think we just have to let it run its course and move on I think it was probably only last week. Honestly. I think we were still pretty hopeful that Ronnie would stay Up until the middle of last week and you know that situation changed when standard Leedshow came in and met a clause in Ronnie's contract And it meant that we you know the decision sort of shifted from our decision of whether we wanted him to stay or go into Ronnie's decision And he had a choice of if he wanted to stay or leave and he informed us Middle of last week that he that he wanted to go and so pretty much my Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday of last week was Finishing and finalizing that that and then informing the team. So you mentioned this clause in his contract Is that equivalent to a release clause for a player? Essentially? Yes. Essentially. Yeah So, you know, I think they're aware of the amount of money They would need to spend in order to in order to activate that clause and they said they would do it and you know Like I say, so we had to them adjust and react and think we're really fortunate position We're in with the staff that we have to a to sort of hopefully have what we think will be a relatively seamless transition now midseason I thought I was having an emotional week last week and then you popped into my mind And I knew it would have been a difficult one for you But I'm always really impressed with the way that you stack the squad the way you stack the coaches Basically next man up mentality now was this the vision for Nick when he was brought to the club that maybe one day if he improves And he learns he might get a shot I don't think it was ever the specific plan or goal that Nick would step into this role But I think what we try and do is similar to players We want to have players who players and staff who are ready to take the next step And you're hoping to grow them to improve them and those opportunities come when you least expect them You know, I've been very fortunate in my career city football group have given me wonderful opportunities to grow in my role into the position I'm in now and you know, I think we feel like Nick was a fantastic candidate and you know We're just so fortunate that really that he's here I've said fortunate and I've also well designed You know, I think we've what you try and do when you're building the club is to have this in place So that when these situations do occur that you don't expect you can have a transition like we've had in the last week Which I think has been as smooth as we could have hoped for So Nick when you talk about the contingency plans with that staff How do you think that carries over to the team that there is that continuity? Yeah, I think it's a massive massively important part of what we do And I think Nick's been able to step in really from Saturday when we informed the team Obviously the public announcement came Monday morning And the players have just sort of adjusted, you know, they are all used to this Coaching changes do happen everyone saw being through them And I think the familiarity they have with Nick and you know the methodology we have there's so much continuity there That I think it's helpful for the players that they know So what the training week is going to look like and well, of course There'll be some minor tweaks every coach brings their own sort of unique stamp to what we do A lot of things look very similar and we hope that will then show in our performances And ultimately the results that we're so proud of what we've had the first first saw part of the season And we're hoping and expecting that to continue now. I love how we're passing the microphone around here I mean, this is the most complicated thing I've ever done But it's just an honor to have you up here and obviously the job you've done really at the end of last season We saw you lift in the trophy and emotionally how much it meant to you Obviously Ronnie was a big part of that But so was the leadership in this group of players that you have put together How important are those players going to be going forward now under Nick massive absolutely massively important We spoke to all of them So as the decisions were coming through over the weekend wanted to make sure Sean maxi Anton Maxime You know the senior leadership group Alfredo, you know that that that group is gonna have an important role We've got a lot of young players, you know a lot of players who our club have only worked with Ronnie And so, you know, I think they they'll take on an outsized role in making sure that the management of the transition is From their side is helped and ultimately me and my staff need to do the same You know, we've got fantastic people all throughout the club And our job is to make sure we make it as easy as we can for the players