Shrewsbury Town’s Board were today ruling nothing out as they sifted through an “interesting” list of early managerial candidates, but it won’t include Sammy McIllroy.

The man who guided play-off chasing Morecambe to a 3-2 victory at the Prostar Stadium on Saturday was heavily linked with the Town job two years ago.

But McIllroy has ruled out making a fresh move for the job now. “I’m happy with Morecambe, thanks” he said.

Nevertheless, applications have been flooding since news of Paul Simpson’s departure surfaced on Friday.

Vice-chairman Keith Sayfritz hasn’t put a time frame on when any appointment will be made, and it appears unlikely the new man will be in place before Saturday’s season-ending trip to Port Vale.

But he insisted chairman Roland Wycherley and the Board, which also includes fellow director James Hughes, have been encouraged by the names to already declare their interest.

Applications

“We have had a number of applications, both in terms of expression of interest and people sending in their CVs,” said Sayfritz, speaking on behalf of the Board.

“The Board will sit down in due course and evaluate the applications. It’s very early days to comment on applications as a whole.
“But I think it’s fair to say the ones we have received so far have been very interesting and it shows people see Shrewsbury Town as a very attractive proposition.”

Sayfritz insisted there were no pre-conceived ideas over whether Town would seek a manager with experience, or whether they would consider appointing a director of football.

“We are looking for someone to drive the club forward and are totally focused on getting the right man in place,” he added.

By JAMES GARRISON