DAVID CUFFLEY Norwich City have already had a string of potential applicants for the job of manager after Peter Grant's departure from the club.Chief executive Neil Doncaster said today there had been interest overnight from “high calibre individuals”.

DAVID CUFFLEY

Norwich City have already had a string of potential applicants for the job of manager after Peter Grant's departure from the club.

Chief executive Neil Doncaster said today there had been interest overnight from “high calibre individuals”.

Grant left the Canaries last night by mutual consent, four days short of completing a year in the job, with his assistant, Jim Duffy, put in temporary charge of the first team ahead of the next game at home to Bristol City on Saturday week.

Asked whether managing City, third from bottom of the Coca-Cola Championship, was still an attractive proposition, Doncaster said: “Yes. The level of interest that we've already had in this position reflects that.

“There are a lot of high calibre individuals who have expressed an interest in this position and that's not surprising.

“I don't think talking about numbers is going to be helpful because that will change hour by hour. In the two hours I've been away from my office, I'm confident some more will have arrived.”

City's annual meeting takes place at Carrow Road a week tomorrow, but Doncaster would not predict whether a new manager may be in place to introduce to shareholders.

He said: “We are keen to make an appointment as soon as we can but we're certainly not going to be rushing it purely because we've got an AGM coming up next Thursday.

“We will put together a recruitment process but I can't give you the details of that process today.”

The chief executive refused to comment on claims that former Wigan boss Paul Jewell was a potential candidate.

“Speculation about individuals at this stage is not helpful and we won't engage in it,” he said.

He added: “Our position in the league table is just one of the factors that makes this appointment so important.

“We're not naïve enough to think that there is a perfect manager out there. Certain managers are right at certain times for certain clubs.”

Doncaster rejected two of today's newspaper reports - the first of which suggested joint majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones were ready to sell their controlling interest in the club to fellow directors Andrew and Sharon Turner.

“I'm not aware there's any truth whatsoever in that sort of speculation,” he said.

“I've absolutely no reason to believe there's any truth in it. I believe that Delia and Michael remain as committed to the football club as they have been over the 10 years they've been involved in it.”

He also rubbished stories that Grant's parting settlement was £600,000 - the same sum it cost City to pay off Nigel Worthington a year ago.

“It's nowhere near that sum. That's certainly way wide of the mark,” said Doncaster.