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New NYRed Bulls Managing Directory Marc De Grandpre In his first interview with area media on Saturday afternoon said it twice : "No former Cosmos will be involved with this soccer club," he said before the New York Red Bulls took on D.C. United at Giants Stadium on Saturday.

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NO EX-COSMOS NEED APPLY :New Red Bulls chief speaks to media for 1st time, talks about coach, director of operations

East Rutherford, N.J. -- Marc De Grandpre, the new managing director of Red Bull New York, could not be any more emphatic about it:

No former Cosmos will be involved with the MLS club.

In his first interview with area media on Saturday afternoon, De Grandpre said it twice.

"No former Cosmos will be involved with this soccer club," he said before the New York Red Bulls took on D.C. United at Giants Stadium on Saturday.

Asked whether former Cosmos star striker Giorgio Chinaglia or ex-goalkeeper Shep Messing, now a red Bulls TV color analyst, are candidates for the post of director of soccer operations, De Grandpre answered no to each query.

"The people who are in charge of this team made it clear to me that the former Cosmos will not be involved," De Grandpre said.

When asked about whether former MetroStars might be involved -- ex-Metros midfielder and Hall of Famer Tab Ramos might be a possibility, according to sources -- De Grandpre replied: "Not that I know of."

De Grandpre wouldn't discuss who the finalists were or when an announcement would be made.

"It's being taken care of in Europe, that's all I can say," he said.

Asked whether the new man would be American or European, De Grandpre replied, "I'm not going to comment on that."

De Grandpre said he has met with coach Mo Johnston. "As long as I'm the guy right now, he's the guy, the coach," he said.

Asked if he promised Johnston a full year, De Grandpre replied, "There are no promises made."

De Grandpre said that Johnston will report to him until a director of soccer operations is named.

"Mo's going to report to the director of soccer operations and the director of soccer operations is going to make all of the decisions regarding soccer," he said.

De Grandpre said that former German great and Cosmos star Franz Beckenbauer's role with the club would be as an advisor to his friend, Red Bull Austrian billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

"That's his only role," he said. "Obviously we go to him when we have questions and we need advice on soccer questions and that's about it."

As for his role with the club, De Grandpre said, "I'm in charge with everything that has to do with business and commercial aspects -- marketing, sales, stadium operations, communications, new stadium development. All of those things (are) all under my umbrella."

De Grandpre admittedly is not a "soccer man." He played soccer while growing up in Montreal, Canada. He said he was more of a baseball man.

"I've had experience running businesses, done it nine years successfully, seven years for Red Bull and I think that's why they hired me," he said.

De Grandpre said he looked forward to the challenge of a new frontier for him.

"I embrace the challenge and there's a big learning curve to understand the game," he said. "But I think we have the right staff that's going to support me. And we'll move forward."

His learning curve has been pretty steep already.

"The last four weeks have been pretty intense," he said. "As you know what we put together for the first game, the effort from the team, I think I've got a good grasp on the basic things that need to be improved and its working well.