Iain Dowie has been singled out as the favourite for the Oldham Athletic managerial vacancy, following chairman Simon Corney’s admission that the club couldn’t afford to lure Paul Scholes from Manchester United.

Despite masterminding a famous win over Liverpool in the FA Cup, Paul Dickov resigned from his post as head coach on Sunday, after the League One side succumbed to their eighth defeat in their last nine games, leaving them in 20th spot.

As a result 38-year-old central midfielder Scholes, who is based in the town and in the past expressed a desire to head into management following his retirement, was labelled as front runner by bookmakers for the position.

However the Latics chairman has insisted that no contact has been made between the Boundary Park outfit and the veteran playmaker. And although he conceded that any interest expressed by the Manchester United midfielder towards the post would be welcome, he also admitted it would be difficult from a financial stand point to lure him away from Old Trafford.

“If Paul Scholes was to so much as express a desire to come here, it would refresh the whole club and of course I would be interested,” Corney said.

“But is it going to happen? No, it isn’t and there has been no contact between ourselves and Paul Scholes.

“For one thing, I cannot see him wanting to go from earning £60,000-a-week at Manchester United to £600-a-week at Oldham!

“We have received an awful lot of applications for the job, though, and it has been quite humbling to see some of the names who have expressed an interest.”

Dowie who has previous experience with the club, leading Oldham to the League One play-offs during his first spell in charge in 2002-03, has now been touted as the forerunner for the job, while no decision has yet been made, the club hope to announce their decision before their FA Cup tie with Everton.

“Iain and I are good friends and we speak on a regular basis, but the club has time to make the right appointment,” added Corney.

“I would certainly expect a manager to be in place in time for the FA Cup tie against Everton next week and hopefully the issue may be resolved before the game against MK Dons this weekend.”