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Central Coast Mariners sack Walmsley
But executive vice-chairman Peter Storrie has warned other potential applicants that if they cannot make do with the existing squad, almost at full capacity, to "not bother applying".
Confident Central Coast supporters will be "pleasantly surprised" by the resumes of those interested, with the Englishman to confer with owner, Mike Charlesworth and the club's advisor, Harry Redknapp at the end of this week in London to draw up a short-list.
"We’re doing a detailed CV and we’ll send that out to people that apply and see if they are still interested once they seen specifications of the job," Storrie said.
"It should be a reasonably quick process and we’d like to have somebody in place by the end of August.
"There are 25 applications in already, through various agents and also directly, and they are coming from all over the place - from Europe, the UK and Australia.
"It’s nice and it shows that despite what some people in the media might think, it’s a job that people still want."
Whoever replaces Walmsley, who presided over just five wins in 30 games and led the club to the wooden spoon last season, will need to be as active away from the training ground as he is on it, according to Storrie.
"We do a lot on the fan engagement and community side of things and we need somebody who will embrace everything we are about as a club," he said.
"Whoever comes in has to take on board that we are very much a community club."
With Walmsley paying the price for a disastrous 2-1 FFA Cup loss to Victorian National Premier League side Green Gully, Storrie said the trigger had to be pulled for the good of the club.
"It was tough because I had become good friends with Tony, but you have to do what’s right for the football club and this was the right thing," Storrie said.
"We need somebody who is capable of handling the young players and developing them further.
"Some people have said that with the roster as it is, the new coach won’t be able to bring his own players in, well if that’s the mentality then don’t apply then.
"The people who apply will be those who think the squad we have can turn things around ... if not then don’t bother applying."
Charlesworth said the club will look far and wide for a replacement - and might even consider a female coach in a nod to promote equal opportunities for all.
"We are thinking as broadly as possible right now and would like to have a new coach on the ground and in place by the end of the month to give him or her as much time as possible in the lead up to what is a very important season for us," Charlesworth said.
"Tony was very forward thinking and accommodating as far as fan engagement was concerned, and it’s important we extend that further this season regardless of who comes in.
"For example, we need to get our fans closer to the action off the pitch on match day even as far as putting cameras into the changing rooms ... we need to continue to innovate and broaden our appeal to continue to build our fan base.
"In commercial terms, the results of the last couple seasons haven’t helped us and this was instrumental in the changes we have made.
"However with a new head coach and a more experienced squad already in place, I’m very confident of an exciting and successful new season."
