Race to be Rangers manager begins

Stafford Rangers today set a two-week time frame to find Matt Elliott's successor as boss.

Rangers want all applications for the manager's position at Marston Road in by the end of the month, with interviews to be completed by the end of the following week.

The Express & Star expects ex-Port Vale manager Dean Glover, one-time Altrincham chief Graham Heathcote, ex-Congleton joint boss Anthony Buckle and former Rangers player Tony Dinning to re-apply for the post.

All four were interviewed the last time the club were in the hunt for a new boss, a job which eventually went to Tim Flowers, with Elliott initially coming on board as his assistant.

Flowers quit after just nine games in charge, leaving Elliott to take the reins as temporary and then permanent manager.

The former Leicester and Scotland defender resigned over the weekend, leaving Rangers without a manager for the third time in eight months.

There are question marks over Heathcote, who could be in line for an emotional return to Altrincham, where he spent nearly eight years as boss.

But Glover and Buckle are both out of work and looking to return to management as quickly as possible.

Dinning is assistant to Lee Mills at Midland Alliance club Bridgnorth but lives in Stafford and applied last time - without Mills.