Swindon Town are set to restart the process of finding a permanent successor to Maurice Malpas after a widely-anticipated appointment failed to materialise this afternoon.

The club have just announced that talks with one of their favoured candidates – believed to be Newcastle Academy director Richard Money – have had to be shelved after a failure to agree a compensation package with the Premiership to secure his release.

Town chief Andrew Fitton is to consider his dwindling options over the weekend and has not ruled out the possibility of re-starting the exhaustive search again almost six weeks after Malpas left the County Ground.

Fitton said: "We are determined to find the right man for the foreseeable future and we couldn't have gone through a more rigorous process in selecting a suitable candidate.

"Given the circumstances I feel that we need a few days to review the process and to re-consider some of the available candidates. The truth is that there are new names still throwing their hat in the ring as managers become available."

He added: "We remain determined to find the right person for the post. Swindon Town is seen as an attractive club for a manager and whilst the process may have become protracted at the same time no one will thank us if we get this appointment wrong."