Biding his time

Which is why Williams, now chairman at the Riverside, is in no hurry to fill the vacant manager's position following Andy Grimshaw's weekend resignation.

The club's lack of urgency in appointing a new boss is exemplified by the fact that they have yet to formally advertise the position, but three applications have already landed on the chairman's desk.

Names being linked with the post are Mark Molyneaux, Ramsbottom's current goalkeeper who was sacked as boss of Chorley last month, and another renowned stopper, David Felgate.

A veteran of over 700 league appearances, mostly for Bolton Wanderers, Felgate is an established non-league figure following spells at Leigh RMI and, most recently, Radcliffe Borough.

Williams said: "We are not panicking because this decision is going to be right, being manager here is not a short term thing.

"It's a family-type club and we try to promote from within, right from the early days when I was here. I was manager for 17 years and we don't change managers very often.

"We've got a lot of good lads and we think a lot of them so we don't want upheaval of people coming and going.

"We're being open-minded about this and it's about who can adapt to how this club is run.

"We have a wage structure that we try to keep to and we look after out incomings and outgoings.

"We've bought 320 seats from Maine Road for a new stand and have spent £32,000 on the pitch so we are a progressive club."

One of the problems that has dogged United's season so far, however, is their failure to hold on to key players.

Greg Brickhall scored 10 goals before moving to fellow North West Counties Division One side Woodley Sports, and highly-rated goalkeeper Mark Andrews made the step up to UniBond League football with Rossendale United.

Grimshaw intimated earlier this week that, with injuries and suspensions also to deal with, such disruption had left him "chasing his own tail" in trying to compile a squad for each fixture.

With work and family commitments to balance, Grimshaw decided something had to give and announced his resignation after Saturday's 2-0 win over Salford City in the League Challenge Trophy.

But Williams insists that if the departed manager can find time to help the club in some capacity the door will remain wide open.

Williams said: "I'm not happy about losing Andy because he's a tremendous lad but he's been under pressure because of work.

"Andy brought in ideas from the Conference and it wasn't easy for us to keep up, but it's been better for the club with the total professionalism he brought here.

"I want him here because he's good for the club and he wants to still be involved because he's done a lot of work off the field, like Ken Bridge. They don't just manage, they help the club in many different ways."

Grimshaw's former assistant Ged Walsh was in charge of the team when they beat Trafford 3-0 on Tuesday and is expected to remain there when the Rams go to Congleton Town in NWCL One tomorrow.

Anyone interested in the manager's vacancy can ring Harry Williams on 01706 823029.