Bashley are holding fire on the vacant manager's post until they have heard back from assistant boss Barry Blankley.

Gary Parsons, acting chairman of the Dr Martens League Southern Division club, will wait to find out Blankley's intentions before deciding on a successor to former Liverpool and Saints midfielder Jimmy Case who resigned last week for personal reasons.

"I've had enquiries about the post but I won't be making any decision until I have heard back from Barry," said Parsons. "He's still making his mind up about whether to go or stay."

Case's departure has re-ignitied the burning question of whether Bashley's prolific strike duo James Taylor and Phil Andrews and highly-rated former England schoolboy Wade Elliott will remain at the club.

Although Salisbury, Basingstoke, Dorchester and Havant & Waterlooville are sure to be monitoring the situation, Parsons has had no enquiries in the last week and insists: "All three players are under contract to Bashley and that's the way it will stay until a new manager is appointed and has the chance to say whether he would like to work with them.

"It's not just down to me whether we sell them or not. It's a decision the whole club has got to make - new manager included."

Taylor, though, has made it clear that he would like to play at a higher level and the 24-year-old is bound to interest newly-promoted Havant & Waterlooville who are set to lose the services of Jason Lovell. Just as in his Salisbury days, the big marksman does not fancy the extra travelling involved with Premier Division football.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.