Foreign applicants and usual suspects, but Humphreys doesn't want permanent job

Any new man coming in will have two main tasks; keeping the Spireites out of the drop zone come the end of the 2016/17 campaign and deciding who he wants to keep from the 19 players out of contract this summer.

The board will meet today at the Proact to mull over the type of manager they’re looking for.

One man who isn’t in the frame for the permanent role is the current caretaker boss, Ritchie Humphreys.

Company secretary Ashley Carson says the player-coach doesn’t want the job.

“Ritchie has not put his hat in the ring, he’s not interested,” he said.

“He loves the club and he’s happy to help out in the short term.

“If there’s anything going forward he would be delighted to be involved.

“He’s such a good professional at the end of the day.”

Humphreys is set to meet with club CEO Chris Turner to discuss the game plan for the first game of the post-Danny Wilson era, tomorrow night’s trip to Luton in the EFL Trophy.

Carson says the club are taking the competition – and it’s much needed prize money – very seriously, and Humphreys is well aware of the need to field a strong side.

The director met with his CEO yesterday to go through some of the applications they’ve received, including a number from foreign managers.

“At the moment we’re still collating names that are coming in,” he said.

“There’s some people that I didn’t even know were looking to become managers, who have applied.

“There are several from overseas, Portugal, Denmark, some really strange ones.

“Some of the ones you would expect have applied and some more high profile ones.

“We’re going to leave it a couple of days and see what comes in.”

The main item on the agenda for the board today is deciding what they want from any new manager.

Carson has suggested a short term appointment might not be the best option for the club, considering the number of players who could leave the Proact in the summer.

But maintaining League One status is key.

“I really don’t think we want someone just until the end of the season,” he said.

“We’ve got a massive rebuild to do, we need someone to be part of that transition.

“Staying up is the priority but at the same time, they’ll need to have one eye on next year and be earmarking players.

“He’ll have to have one eye on this season and one on the 19 players out of contract.”

Although the Derbyshire Times understands a number of very experienced managers have already expressed interest in the position, Carson isn’t entirely sold on the idea of appointing one of the ‘usual suspects.’

“Is this a time for change? Completely.

“Is it a time to look for someone completely different?

“It’s a bit of a risk strategy, will the fans accept that?

“We can’t just make a decision to keep the fans happy, there will always be some that are pleased and some who are not whoever you appoint.”

With the January transfer window open, time is of the essence for the Spireites, and a new boss will be tasked with freshening up the playing squad.

“We want to appoint as soon as possible. We don’t want it to be a kneejerk decision but we’ve already given it some thought,” said Carson.

“We have go get someone who has enough time to bring some players in.

“We expect someone coming in to know what we’re short of, that we need a midfielder, a left-back, they’ll be expected to have had a look at the current team and see where we’re short.”

Bookies have installed Dean Holden as the early favourite, the ex Town player apparently backed in to even money.

But Carson could give no indication that there was any substence to the betting pattern.

“I haven’t a clue where that’s come from,” he said.