Bognor will tell their new boss to play the Nyewood Lane way – or face the axe.

The National League south new boys will start interviewing candidates to replace Jamie Howell next week.

They are sorting through applications and looking at bosses they might wish to approach.

General manager Jack Pearce will head the committee who make a big decision forced on them by Howell’s move to Eastbourne Borough soon after winning promotion via the play-offs..

The successful candidate will be someone who can send out a team to play attractive, passing football on a restricted budget.

Pearce expects to interview up to eight contenders and he will make it clear what he is required.

Past performances elsewhere will be taken into account.

But Pearce is keen to see how hopefuls respond to tough questions about how they would serve up the results and brand of football required in a testing environment.

The veteran former first team manager told The Argus: “We’ll make a decision depending on how they answer our questions.

“What they have done in the past is one thing but they will have to explain how they would work within our framework.

“They would have to tell us how they would deal with a lack of funds both for manager and players.

“We’ve had that problem for years.

“Then they would have to tell us how would they cope with the location of the club.

“How they would overcome those handicaps without sending out a team to play kick and rush football.

“There’s no point someone saying he will playing passing football and then, when the season starts, just getting his team to kick it long.

“If a manager does that, we will get rid of him.

“If he uses the excuse that he can’t play passing football because he can’t get the players he needs, we will still get rid of him and find someone who can.

“The footballing philosophy of the club will stay the same.”

Pearce knows it could be a tough decision.

He added: “There are no guarantees. Lots of managers have success with one club, then move and are hopeless.

“You need a bit of luck. You need players with desire and you need to create an environment in which they want to play.”

Pearce reported “lots of interest” in the manager’s job.

He said: “We will look at people who have already rung us to show an interest and we will identify a few we think might be interested.

“If there is someone at a club, we will approach the club to ask for permission to talk. If he is a free agent, we will contact him directly.

“We have not spoken to anybody yet, which might seem strange, but we will start in the latter part of next week.

“I’d imagine we will take to six to eight people.”