BARROW AFC owner Paul Casson hopes Paul Cox will stay at the club, after granting Hartlepool United permission to speak to him about their vacant manager's position.

Casson spoke as the odds on AFC boss Cox taking over at the Pools tumbled from 7/1 to 1/7 within the space of 24 hours, making him the heavy favourite.

But the Holker Street chief hopes Cox will stay with the Bluebirds – with a hefty compensation package in place should he leave with two years remaining on his contract likely to prove a hurdle.

Speaking in the early morning from his Texas home, and having not had time to discuss matters with AFC chief executive Austin Straker, who had earlier said he had received no contact on the issue, Casson said: “We're always happy for Paul to speak to anybody – I find it very flattering that people want to talk to our manager.

“If anybody requests permission to speak to anybody, we will always give it. This is not North Korea.

“We sincerely hope that Paul decides to continue as manager of Barrow AFC.”

Officials from Hartlepool contacted Casson on Wednesday night seeking permission to talk to Cox. He has since spoken both to his manager and to Cox's agent Jake Speight, though would not reveal what was said in those discussions.

The 45-year-old Nottingham-based manager still has two years left on his contract with Barrow and there would be a substantial compensation package in place should he depart for the North East.

Hartlepool have been looking for a new boss since the departure of Dave Jones near the end of their relegation campaign in League Two – a season which saw them come down to join Barrow in the National League.

Cox is now the man being most closely linked with taking over, but Casson said: “Hartlepool contacted me and asked me if it was okay to talk to him. I made it clear that we certainly didn't want him to leave and he is contracted to Barrow AFC for the next couple of years and we would not release him from his contract. But if they wanted to speak to him, it's a free country and they happily have my permission to speak to him.

“We certainly do no want to lose him.”

He added: “It would cost a significant amount of money for them to take him.”

Casson would not confirm the size of the fee needed to buy out Cox's contract and provide AFC with compensation, though it is believed to be in the high five-figures, which could prove problematic for a Hartlepool club without a chairman after two years of financial worries and winding up orders, and with uncertainty over the direction of their off-field future.

The Evening Mail has been unable to contact Cox regarding the issue on Thursday, though he made no mention of a potential exit on Wednesday when discussing plans for pre-season and further player recruitment following the arrival of forward Jordan White on Tuesday night.

Cox was linked with a move to Notts County last season, as well as the frequently-vacant position at Eastleigh several times, though he has remained in post at Barrow since November 2015, with his current deal seeing him through to the summer of 2019.

He saw the team climb from just above the National League relegation zone to finish 11th in his first season in charge, before guiding them to seventh last season, battling for a place in the play-offs into the final weeks of the campaign.