With more than 80 applications sent in for the vacant manager’s job, it it clear Chester FC remains an attractive prospect for bosses up and down the football pyramid.

After Marcus Bignot was relieved of his duties , the search began to find a new man at the helm of the Blues ahead of next season’s campaign in the National League North.

At an informal City Fans United meeting earlier this week, director Andrew Morris revealed an appointment should be in place before the final game of the season at Barrow.

The club has received 60 legitimate applications and prospective candidates include ones who have managed in the Champions League, Championship and even the African Cup of Nations.

Among those to express an interest in the role are former Crewe Alexandra and Leyton Orient boss Steve Davis .

Runcorn Town manager Chris Herbert and his assistant Mark McGregor are also interested in the vacancy, while Witton Albion have moved to quash speculation linking boss Carl Macauley with the role.

With interest in the role high, we asked our jury members...

“Who would you like to see become the next Chester FC manager and why?”

Here’s what they had to say...

Rio Doherty "Our new manager needs to have good contacts, good knowledge of the local football scene, knowledge of the National League North and can work on a limited budget."

“The appointment of the next Chester FC manager could be critical towards our future. During this week I have been scouring through the names on who it could it could be.

“The likes of Billy Heath, Chris Herbert, Steve Davis and Gary Caldwell come to mind, but it could be anyone really. I don’t particularly know who it will be, but I’ve whittled it down to three on my shortlist.

“1. Ian Sharps: Ian is a well-known man around the Deva Stadium, and has experience at the club in a number of roles.

“Of course Steve Burr signed him in 2015 as a defender, and made him captain. During his playing spell here I thought he played well but looked a bit rusty due to him being a really experienced player.

“Obviously when Jon McCarthy got appointed as manager, he appointed Sharps as his assistant. I read Chester FC forums regularly and I have noticed that a fair portion of supporters would like to see Ian Sharps given the job.

“Sharps was arguably the ‘master’ behind our ‘unbeaten run’ in 2016 as our defence was really strong back then. It’s fairly obvious that Sharps was an influence behind that run as Jon McCarthy’s record after he departed to Walsall speaks volumes.

“I’ve noticed that he has attended our last three home matches which could mean that he may want the job. Personally I would be really happy to see him return as manager although he isn’t my preferred choice. It would be great but I do think that he is quite raw at managing at this level.

“2. Billy Heath: Billy Heath is by no doubt one of the favourites for the job. He virtually ticks all of the boxes and is the manager that we seriously need.

“It will be quite tough to bounce straight back up, but Heath has won the Conference North with both Fc Halifax Town and North Ferriby United.

“You can’t think of many CVs handed in which are better than that really. He will know the league well, have good contacts and can hopefully be backed by a decent backroom staff.

“On the downside Billy is Yorkshire-based as we ideally need someone from the North West, but I would be thrilled if he ends up landed the job. Also Billy Heath publically declared in a local newspaper this week that he would like to manage us, so watch this space.”

“3. Steve Davis: Finally the person who completes my shortlist is Steve Davis. Billy Heath has been my preferred candidate since Marcus Bignot departed, but since I read Steve Davis’ interview a short while ago, he has slightly edged it for me.

“Davis is local, has a great deal of managerial experience, will have good contacts and can nurture players from the academy.

“Unfortunately it didn’t work out for Steve during his last job at Leyton Orient. At the end of the day though, he had to work under some extending difficult circumstances at that club but other than that, I’ve been impressed with him as a manager.

“He worked wonders at Crewe. They got promoted to League One, stayed in that division for a few years and won the EFL trophy all whilst Davis was at the helm.

“As I said before he would have a good knowledge of the local football scene so would be my ideal option. The only slightly bad thing is that I have a feeling that he may be wanting a decent wage. Other than that he would be my preferred choice.

“Anyway, I would be really pleased if our new manager is from that list. The board will have to make a critical choice over the coming days though. Our new manager needs to have good contacts, good knowledge of the local football scene, knowledge of the National League North and can work on a limited budget.

“It will be really interesting to know who our new manager will be, but we all need to support them next season. Let’s hope the dark days are behind us so we can look forward to a brighter era.

COYB!”

Kieron Shiel "For me it’s Steve Davis, brings longevity and commitment, experience of winning and experience of managing teams to relative success on the leagues lowest quartile budgets – we need that clearly."

“Well who I’d like and who is realistic are two very different things. I’ll start with who I’d like and why we won’t get them.

“John Askey would be the dream choice and with hindsight what we should have done is gone all guns blazing after him exactly a year ago.

“What he has done at Macc has been amazing, with a low budget and a shocking pitch, how he has managed to set up and play football the way they have is a great achievement. Just think what he’d of done for us... and back to the real world.

“Looks like my next choices, Carl Macauley and Phil Parkinson – hopefully with Neil Sorvel – will be blocked by their respective clubs so they are out it seems.

“So for me it’s a question of who’s available and wants it. For me it’s Steve Davis, brings longevity and commitment, experience of winning and experience of managing teams to relative success on the leagues lowest quartile budgets – we need that clearly.

“His experience at Crewe, a club renowned for growing talent and making money that way, should translate to us as that seems to be the vision we have with the current CFU football work stream.

“It would have been ideal to pair with Young as assistant for his experience at this level if only he was still here.”