PAUL Ogden has been re-employed by Barrow AFC to help with the club's search for a new manager and also strengthen the playing squad.

Ogden originally joined the Bluebirds in February 2016 as chief scout under former boss Paul Cox. He was later appointed as Head of Football Operations but resigned last October after just two months in that role.

AFC managing director Andrew Casson said he is now busy with the task of finding a replacement for Ady Pennock following the ex-manager's departure last week.

Several candidates have shown an interest in the vacant Holker Street hot-seat and Casson says the board will take their time with the appointment to try and make sure they find the right man for the job.

“In terms of the manager I was away for the weekend so I have been working my way through the various applications and CVs that candiadtes have sent,” said Casson.

“I'm just working through them and tThere are a few interesting candidates in there who we will be having follow-up conversations with.”

On Ogden's role, he said: “Paul Ogden reached out to us earlier this month and wanted to know if he could help in any way so we need him to.

“So we reached out to him and he is working for us again as chief scout and has been looking at players for us and we will be working closely alongside him on the management side as well.

“In terms of timescale this is the first time under our ownership we have the opportunity to really take our time.

“We inherited Darren (Edmondson) and then we brought in Paul Cox in the middle of the season. Micky Moore was during the season and Ady (Pennock) was during the season so this is the first time we can take a breath and make sure we have the right guy.”

“We will take our applications for the rest of this week and then spend all next week and the week after that if needs be, having one or two conversations at the very least with the candidates we think might be able to do a job for us.”

Casson said the club will be looking for an up-and-coming boss rather than one who is already established at National League level or above.

With AFC having announced cost-cutting measures last week, which will see the player budget reduced ahead for the 2018-19 National League season, qualities such as having an eye for a bargain in the transfer market and the ability to nurture young talent will be seen as very beneficial.

“At the end of the day we are trying to go a little bit away from the known names and give someone up-and-coming and maybe away from the National League the chance to put their name forward and demonstrate they have the capabilities to succeed for us,” said Casson.

“If you look up and down the leagues, football is full of success stories where people have been brought in who wouldn't traditionally be thought of as a first team manager and they have done well.

“What we need to do is find the right personality with the right values and ethics to come in and understand how difficult the job is going to be in the short term, and also how hard they are going to have to work to bring the squad into shape over the next two or three years, if they want to be around that long.”