Managing director Rob Bickerton today insisted Shrewsbury Town will not be rushed into appointing a successor to Gary Peters by declaring: “We are not in panic mode.”

The process of finding a replacement started in earnest this morning with Town officials sifting through the applications they began receiving within minutes of news breaking of Peters becoming the 34th Football League manager to depart his club this season.

John McMahon is currently in temporary charge, and Bickerton insists due care and attention will be given to the “most important appointment at a football club”.

“When these situations arise, the fax machines start going and the e-mails come in and you have names thrown at you,” said Bickerton. “In the next couple of days, I would expect we will receive about 60 or 70 applications.

“But we are not in panic mode. We have a clean sheet of paper and we have got the opportunity to consider everything,” he added.

“But this club will now be attractive to successful managers who want to go to clubs with ambition and we are aiming for the Championship.”

Bickerton is refusing to comment on potential candidates, but a host of high-profile figures have already been linked with the job.

Amongst the early favourites is 41-year-old Paul Simpson, who is without a club after leaving Preston last November.

The former Manchester City, Wolves and Derby midfielder led North End to the top of the Championship at one stage en route to a seventh place finish in 2006-7 and also took Carlisle to back-to-back promotions from the Conference to League One.

Another relative youngster, Steve Cotterill, is also likely to attract attention after guiding Cheltenham from non-League to what is now League One before going on to have stints in charge at Stoke and Burnley and as No 2 to Howard Wilkinson at Sunderland.

Micky Adams, who left Colchester as assistant manager to Geraint Williams is another who could come under consideration.

Adams won promotion from the basement division with Fulham and Brighton and has also had spells at Coventry and Leicester.

Mike Newell has been out of work since March 2007 after enjoying success at Luton, while Morecambe’s Sammy McIlroy – who worked with Bickerton at Macclesfield – and Burton’s Nigel Clough are two potential candidates who are in work.