Blackpool will play a game of patience when it comes to appointing their new manager

That’s according to chief executive Ben Mansford, who ruled out setting a deadline on the club’s hunt for Simon Grayson’s replacement.

When asked how far away the club are from appointing a new man, Mansford said: “I think it’s difficult to put a timeline on it.

“There’s a huge number of applicants but what we’re doing is working through a process with the things we feel are non-negotiables and things we really feel we need.

“The board are doing that and there are daily conference calls, daily analysis, there’s a huge amount of data now in terms of how managers play and I think some of those are really good barometers to back up what they’re saying in a sales pitch, or what they say in a document or what their agent might say on their behalf.

“It’s a shortlist we’re working through. For me, I wouldn’t want to put a timeframe on it but what I would say is that we want to find the right person.

“If that takes a little bit longer than the fans might like, then I apologise. But I hope they’ll stick with us and understand we’re trying to do everything we can to get the right choice for the long term.”

The likes of Nathan Jones, Paul Heckingbottom, Ian Evatt and Brian Barry-Murphy have all been linked with the vacancy, but Mansford refused to be drawn on individuals.

“There are some people that have impressed me but I think they’re just about to win Premier League titles,” he joked.

“In all seriousness, we need the person that wants to be at this football club.

“It’s important we find the person that absolutely bolts through those doors in the main reception every morning and says ‘I’m the Blackpool head coach and we’re going to do this. People are with me’.

“We don’t want a contract manager. By that, I mean we don’t want someone that has had some success at an age where they will come in because the average shelf life is 12-13 months, they’ll earn so much and then will get a pay-off for another 12 months.

“Me personally, and together as a board, we don’t want another contract manager.

“We want this person to be progressive, has had a good education either as a player or as a young coach, that’s got some proven track record and bounces through that door thinking ‘this is for me, this is a brilliant opportunity and I will literally kill myself to make sure Blackpool are a success on and off the field’.

“That’s the person we want.”