DAVE Penney will not be considered for York City’s managerial vacancy and the club plan to make a new appointment before the trip to Stockport a week on Saturday.

Sporting director Penney will take training this week after Sam Collins was relieved of his duties last night following the 1-0 defeat at Curzon Ashton.

But The Press understands that the Wakefield-born 54-year-old, who won back-to-back promotions with Doncaster in 2003 and 2004, has no interest in becoming Collins’ successor, having not managed a team for eight years since being sacked at Bristol Rovers, following other spells at the helm of Darlington and Oldham.

The intention, meanwhile, is for the interview process to start immediately as City search for a third boss this season, with former youth-team coach Collins having taken over from the dismissed Martin Gray in mid-August.

More than a hundred applications were received following Gray’s departure and it is anticipated that the level of interest will be similar, despite the club currently sitting 15th in the National League North standings.

City are not understood to have a preferred candidate in mind and, despite speculation linking ex-Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore to the position, he is not believed to be in the running.

Collins will receive a financial settlement in relation to the remainder of his contract at Bootham Crescent, but it is not expected to be a substantial package.

Defeat at Curzon meant the former Hartlepool caretaker manager had overseen a run of seven straight away league defeats at sixth-tier level and, in total, he won ten, drew five and lost 11 matches, although four of the victories came in FA Cup and FA Trophy contests.

Prior to his dismissal, Collins had revealed that he was going to cancel planned time off for the players during the two-week break from action.

He also spoke of the need for “leaders” to be recruited during January, with the next fortnight expected to witness several comings and goings as the loan terms of Alex Bray, Joe Davis, Kennedy Digie and Joe Ironside expire, while the length of Alex Harris’ contract remains unclear.

Complaining after the Curzon loss, Collins said: “I know it’s part of my job, but why is it up to me to tell people to get themselves going from the sidelines? It needs to come from out on the pitch as well, even if it’s just a centre-half winning a header or somebody making a tackle.

“Teams that are successful keep fighting even if they’re not playing well and make sure something eventually falls their way and I need to find some leaders. That’s not just people who shout and bawl, but people who are brave enough to get on the ball when things aren’t going well.

“In the dressing room afterwards, Liam Agnew asked why everybody had stopped taking the ball off Adam Bartlett and some of these players have to be tougher mentally, not physically, if they’re going to pick up results at places like Curzon. There was a determination and character about our play when we were on the front foot in the first half, but where did that go in the second?”

Curzon claimed all three points when Bartlett spilled a long-range Ryan Brooke effort and Shenton pounced to tap in the rebound, with Collins lamenting a first half that lacked a cutting edge and a second period in which the visitors’ display fell flat.

“We should have been out of sight by half-time,” he argued. “We were dominating the game with the chances we had and should have had them dead and buried.

“They never had a chance and probably only had one in the whole game, which was a mistake because it had to be saved from 25 yards out and we should have been following up as well. But the second half was flat again and we didn’t manage a shot until the keeper made a brilliant save from Joe Ironside right at the end.”

One of the most infuriating features of his team’s performance for Collins, meanwhile, was the inability to clear the first man from corner kicks with Josh Law the biggest culprit.

“That drives you crazy, because we do enough work on them,” the City manager confessed. “That’s just simple, schoolboy stuff and people have to be better than that because, when we did get deliveries in the box, we attacked the ball well.”

Second-half substitute Harris also incurred the wrath of the former Hull and Huddersfield defender, who added: “I was really disappointed with Alex Harris and told him that. The first four of five times we gave him the ball, he gave it away.

“He’s been frustrated because he’s not been playing, but he’s got to show he deserves to play.”