While Neil Warnock holds the fort at Aberdeen the search for a long-term solution at Pittodrie is under way in the background.
The highly experienced Warnock has been placed in interim charge while Dave Cormack and the Aberdeen board find a long-term successor for the Pittodrie hotseat.
A review of the club’s football operations has been undertaken, but it is unclear what changes will be made.
The only guarantee is that a new manager of the first team will be appointed to lead the club next season.
When and who is unclear – but the lengthy process would suggest the club are ready to cast the net as wide as possible.
Will it be a tried and trusted Scottish manager or will it be a hungry young manager eager to prove himself? Maybe it will be someone from overseas or a new face to Scottish football from England.
Right now the door has not closed on any candidate, but one thing is certain – Aberdeen will be under new management soon.
Fans are already drawing up their wishlist, which includes the likes of Jimmy Thelin of Elfsborg to perennial favourite Kjell Knutsen at Bodo Glimt.
But closer to home there are others plying their trade who might have escaped attention and this is a good opportunity to highlight some potential candidates worthy of consideration.
So, let’s start with a completely new name in Dave Challinor of Stockport County.
The playing career
The Englishman was a central defender in his playing career and plied his trade in the lower leagues of English football with Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County and Bury.
He was famous, or perhaps infamous, for having at one time held the world record of the longest throw in football. He set a new record of 46.34metres in 1998, beating the previous record which was held by Andy Legg of Cardiff City.
Challinor was a member of the Tranmere side who reached the League Cup final in 2000 but lost 2-1 to Leicester City at Wembley.
He moved to Stockport County in a £900,000 transfer in 2002 and spent two seasons with the Hatters.
A loan move to Bury in January 2004 was made permanent that summer and Challinor went on to spend four seasons at Bury as captain before being forced to retire from professional football in 2008 due to a knee injury.
Despite calling it a day, he continued to play non-league football, captaining Colwyn Bay to promotion from the Northern Premier League Division One North in 2010.
Management
Following the club’s promotion Challinor was appointed player-manager of the club and was assisted by former Aberdeen left-back Colin Woodthorpe.
Their first season was a successful one with Colwyn Bay finishing runners up in the Northern Premier League Premier Division before securing promotion to the Conference North in the play-offs.
Challinor was named manager of the month in March, April and May 2011.
Such progress was destined to lead to other clubs taking interest and in November 2011 Challinor was appointed manager at AFC Fylde in the Northern Premier League Division One North.
He guided his new club to the title and was named manager of the year in 2011-12.
Challinor again led his club to the play-offs the following season but were defeated by Hednesford Town.
The Fylde boss would not be denied, however, and in 2014 he led his side to promotion to the National League North after a play-off final win over Ashton United.
The promotions continued and Challinor was celebrating again in 2017 as his side was crowned National League North champions.
In a story which is now becoming familiar, he led his side to the play-offs again in 2018 before taking his side to Wembley twice in 2019, where they were beaten by Salford in the play-off final before returning a week later to beat Leyton Orient to win the FA Trophy for the first time in the club’s history.
By October 2019, with Fylde in the relegation places on goal difference, the two parties parted company.
But Challinor was not out of work for long.
Hartlepool renaissance
A month later he was appointed manager of National League side Hartlepool United.
In his first full season in charge, he guided the club to a fourth place finish before leading the club back to the Football League thanks to a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Torquay in the play-off final.
He signed a new contract with United in September 2021, but six weeks later he resigned to join the club he served as a player, Stockport County
County were ninth in the National League, 10 points from first place.
But that remarkable knack for getting the best out of his players was evident from day one as Challinor lost just one of his first 23 games in charge en route to winning the National League title.
County missed out on promotion last season after suffering a penalty shoot-out defeat by Carlisle United in the play-off final.
But the progress being made resulted in Challinor signing a new three-year deal with Stockport last summer.
He was heavily linked with League One side Charlton Athletic but remained at County, and guided his club to a record winning run of 12 matches earlier this season.
They sit only three points behind League Two leaders Mansfield Town after 34 games as the 48-year-old seeks another promotion to add to his CV.
Playing style
Challinor favours as 3-5-2 formation and has been happy to share his philosophy in interviews this season.
He said: “We have wing-backs that are very expansive and very aggressive in terms of getting forward
“We want our wide centre-backs to step in with the ball, not just to be reliant on defending, and that’s a huge part of what we do.
“We want to try and maintain attacks and play in the opposition half of the pitch, but at times, you do have to defend.
“I certainly want us to be a team that are different in possession and out of possession.
“We want to win the ball back as quickly as we can when we’re out of possession and in possession try and get bodies in the box and the ball in the box as often as possible with quality.”
Challinor’s approach has been likened to two of the best in the business – in Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, whose Manchester City side are just a few miles away from Challinor’s County side.
High energy and intensity are the buzzwords used, but for all the discussion about tactics and approach, Challinor’s ethos is a simple one…
“In possession, out of possession, we want to be on the front foot.”
Granted, Challinor’s name may be a new one for Dons fans and the chances of him being Pittodrie-bound anytime soon seem slim.
But with a track record of getting the very best out of players at every club he has worked at, his CV alone merits consideration.
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