Process for manager search outlined as reports claim Blackpool have approached Cheltenham Town boss

The Seasiders are now on the lookout for a new head coach after Critchley opted to leave the club to link up with Steven Gerrard as his new assistant at Aston Villa.

With pre-season due to begin in two weeks’ time, many have suggested the club need to act fast and bring in a new boss as swiftly as possible.

But while Mansford is wary of the time constraints, he’s adamant the club won’t be rushed into making a hasty decision.

“There are a range of emotions we’re all going through, but as senior executives and members of the board, this is now a really important decision for us. It’s so important we get the decision right,” Pool’s chief executive told Tangerine TV.

“We need to make sure, even though pre-season is due to start on June 20 with two days of testing and the season is only about eight weeks away, so we get all those pressures and we’re really respectful that the supporters want to see things move, but I hope they know most of the decisions we’ve made as a club over the last three years since Simon owned the club have tried to be the best ones.

“We have criteria we think are important, but different personalities and different profiles can have those criteria so I don’t think we’re specifically died in the wool to the person or the career they’ve had.

“But they have to be hard working, they have to try and understand the town, they have to have us organised, we want to be entertained. They need to understand where we are and what we’re about, so they need to be able to develop players, they need to have some nous and the ability to go up against teams with bigger budgets and bigger teams and prepare us tactically.

“We’re working to try and move things forward as quickly as possible, but it’s really important we make the right decision.

“We understand we have to make the decision under some time pressures and I think we’ve got a real set of criteria - like some of the headline ones I’ve just outlined - that we’ll be looking for in the next candidate.

“I also think this is a good job for someone. This club has come so far since 2019 and I really hope the next person that comes in wants to be here because they want to be here and because it’s a really exciting job, especially because of the developments surrounding the training ground and the East Stand.”

It comes as Gloucestershire Live report Blackpool have made an official approach to speak to Cheltenham Town boss Michael Duff.

BBC Radio Gloucestershire are already reporting the Robins have granted Pool permission to speak to their boss.

Stoke City’s number two Dean Holden has also been linked with the vacancy.

When quizzed about a shortlist, Mansford added: “Neil has done a really good job with all of his staff, so the success we had with Neil at the head we were duty bound to keep an eye on profiles and individuals and developments within the coaching game and the first-team game both here and in other countries to pick out profiles that suit us.

“We have been doing that and there’s been a number of vacancies around the Championship this summer, so as a board and with John we felt we needed to know where we might go next as and when any developments came with Neil’s future.

“We have a longer shortlist, but it’s important we now work through that and get down to a relatively short number to hopefully find the right person to move us forward.”