Bernard Morley says he and Anthony Johnson are out to make Chester FC fans connect with their football club once again.

The former Salford City duo were named as joint-managers of the Blues on Tuesday night, just a week after leaving the Ammies in surprise fashion having lead them to the National League North title just weeks before.

Morley, 34, and Johnson, 35, have enjoyed a successful managerial partnership since taking the reins at Ramsbottom United nine years ago, with 450 games and a 60% win ratio under their belt.

They were front and centre of the BBC documentary on Salford City, 'Class of '92: Out of the League', which charted the club's rise under the ownership of Manchester United legends Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.

A sizeable budget aided their task at Salford, but the duo worked miracles at Ramsbottom on meagre resources, and Morley insists that they are under no illusions about the task at hand next season in the National League North with the Blues budget but said the aim for him and Johnson was a play-off berth.

"It's strange when you leave somewhere where you have had a lot of success. You ask questions of yourself and think what you could have done differently," Morley told the Chronicle.

"But we move on from that now, that is the past and now we look to the future. The Chester job is a different challenge for us but it isn't one we have just blindly walked into. We had a few offers, one from a higher league, but we felt that a massive club like Chester, with a huge history and a big fanbase was a place that we could help get back to where it belongs.

"People talk about budgets and there is a tendency to dismiss what we did at Salford, but me and Jonno have been managing for 10 years, we aren't a couple of inexperienced lads. We had success at Ramsbottom United with no money and we did what was required and asked of us at Salford.

"We know what the limitations are in the budget and we embrace every challenge we and take it on. We still back ourselves to make the play-offs as a minimum next season with what we are working with. You can pay big money and get these big name lads but if they are playing for the money only then it is useless. We will have lads here who want to be here, who play with passion for the shirt and play for the club. The money will be secondary."

The recruitment process for Morley and Johnson has already started.

The duo have identified players they would like to speak to, and with Johnson on holiday for a fortnight from yesterday, it will be down to Morley to start carrying that process through.

Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson celebrate on the pitch after winning the National League North championship

"We wanted to give it 24 hours but we will be speaking to a few players today and carrying that process on. We have identified some lads we would like to bring in within the constraints of the budget," said Morley.

"You bring a player down here to this club and you are already halfway there. This is a football club with a big history and when the lads see the pitch - and good footballers want to play on good surfaces - it is another selling point. The pitch is superb.

"Chester is a massive selling point to players. What we will be looking for is pace, power and enthusiasm and that is the type of player we want. We want to bring in lads in their early to mid 20s along with our young players who are very talented."

And Morley insists that there will be a clear and defined pathway for youngsters from Chester's academy to progress into the first team.

"If they are good enough they are old enough," said Morley.

"We will embrace the young lads and we have done that at other clubs and will continue to do so here. They have to be good enough, though. From what I have seen there is some real talent in the academy and that is a huge positive and a credit to the work that Calum (McIntyre) has done.

"Me, Jonno and Calum will be working closely and its something we are looking forward to. He is a young, enthusiastic and talented coach and I already trust his judgment because of what he has achieved. Me and Jonno were Calum's age when we took over at Ramsbottom and I'd like to think we can help him develop and that we will be able to have a really productive relationship."

Morley admitted that the Chester job would represent a welcome change from the 'goldfish bowl' of Salford.

Television cameras followed the duo around for much of their tenure with the Ammies as part of the BBC show, with their every move watched closely and followed by millions.

Bernard Morley, left, and Anthony Johnson

"If I'm honest it will be nice not to be in the goldfish bowl," said Morley.

"Everything we did was monitored, every substitution we made and every decision we made. All of it. It was a lot of pressure but we coped and we delivered.

"We aren't daft, though. There are people who will take an interest in what we do and want us to fail still. But we have had that for a long time and we always disappoint them. We don't accept failure and we don't accept consolidation.

"We are ambitious and we want to bring the feel-good factor back to the club. We want the stands full and we want a family atmosphere at this club, but that will only come if we do our job and we win games of football. We have to walk to the walk.

"We want success and we want it to be here at Chester. We are ambitious and hungry and we will give all we have for this. If the club are prepared to walk the mile with us then we could be really successful here."

Morley and Johnson are expected to prefer a part-time structure at the football club for the coming season, believing that the model represents the best chance of bringing in competitive players for the budget available, with training expected to be three evenings a week.