"When the time is right" - Chester edge closer to manager announcement but mindful of keeping harmony

The Blues will have a new manager in charge from the start of next season

Chester are close to announcing their new boss (CHARLIE STOCKTON)

Chester are close to finalising the details for who will be their new manager after agreeing in principle a deal with their preferred candidate and their assistant.

But the actual announcement over who the new manager will be might not be made imminently, with the club mindful of not disrupting the current situation around the first team, with interim boss Connell Rawlinson’s side in good form and having put themselves into a position to challenge for a late play-off run in the National League North.

Rawlinson has been handed the reins at the Blues until the end of the season having taken on the role following the departure of Calum McIntyre last month, and with the club having taken seven points from nine on offer heading into this weekend’s home clash with Southport the Blues sit just three points off seventh, now level on games played with the two teams directly above them.

With momentum building, Chester chiefs are conscious of ensuring that the interim management team and his squad can put their focus on the task at hand.

“We’re really comfortable with the place we’re in regarding our next manager, and we’ll be able to announce everything when the time is right,” said Chester vice-chairman Jim Green, speaking to The Seal.

“Right now, we believe it’s important that our main focus, while we’re fighting for the play-offs, is on supporting the team.

“Connell, Colin (Woodthorpe), Neil (Ebbrell), the rest of the staff, and particularly the players, deserve a lot of credit for getting us to this position.

“There’s a lot of work going on in the background in terms of next season, but our aim at the start of the year was to finish in the top seven, and we’ve given ourselves the chance to do that, and I think the message to everyone is let’s embrace the challenge and throw everything at it for the next seven games.”

There is the chance that the manager elect could be seen at games in the coming weeks even if no formal announcement is forthcoming.

A number of names have been linked with the post, such as former Altrincham manager Phil Parkinson, ex-Boston United chief Graham Coughlan, and Mark Cooper, the former boss of Peterborough United, Forest Green Rovers and Yeovil Town, as well as ex-Hednesford Town boss Gavin Hurren.