BILLY McKinlay is a contender for the vacant Motherwell job.

Around 40 applications have arrived at the Fir Park club since Stuart McCall resigned on Sunday and the former Scotland international midfielder has made it known that he would be interested in the job. McKinlay would continue Motherwell's sequence of making unexpected, slightly left-field managerial appointments although Derek Adams is still the bookmakers' favourite for the position.

Numerous other names have done the rounds - Billy Stark, Terry Butcher, Ian Murray, Csaba Laszlo, Mark Venus and Ian Cathro among them - and Motherwell have been delighted with the level of interest given that they sit second bottom in the SPFL Premiership and are operating under financial stress.

McKinlay, 45, has never held down a manager's role although there was widespread sympathy for him when he was given just two games in charge of Watford before being asked to step back down to his backroom position. McKinlay had worked under Roy Hodgson, Martin Jol and others during 10 years as a coach and resigned from his role as Northern Ireland's assistant manager so that he could commit fully to the Watford job.

Despite having been appointed by owner Giampaolo Pozzo on September 29 he was called to a meeting on October 6 - having overseen a win and a draw in two games - and was asked to step back down to assistant manager.

McKinlay refused and left the club, but said he was more determined than ever to experience management properly.

McCall's assistant, Kenny Black, will be in charge of the team for tomorrow night's home game against Dundee United and the Motherwell directors then plan to use the international break to identify the candidates they are interested in and make approaches to those they intend to interview.

Although the composition of the board has changed over the years, one constant has been an element of unconventional and left-field thinking in recent managerial appointments, almost all of which have proved to be successful.

Since 2002 Motherwell have been managed by Terry Butcher, Maurice Malpas, Mark McGhee, Jim Gannon, Craig Brown and McCall, each of them an intriguing appointment at the time.

McGhee had been out of work for nine months and his reputation had been damaged by dismissals from Wolves, Millwall and Brighton, but he had an excellent spell at Motherwell from 2007 to 2009, doing so well he made the shortlist to become Scotland manager.

When he reflects on that period now, it is the quality and warmth of the people around the club that is vivid in his mind and that was evident to him from the start.

"I sat down with [directors] John Boyle and Stewart Robertson on that first night in One Devonshire Gardens [a Glasgow hotel]," he said yesterday. "I just knew I would get on well with John because of his speed at drinking wine. I thought 'he'll do for me'. Having seen him again last Thursday night I know some things have never changed.

"I would be surprised if they don't get it right again this time. What they seem to be good at is picking people for the moment. When I came in they were looking for someone with a bit of experience who was going to shake the place up a bit. When Craig came in they maybe needed someone to keep that going, to maintain it.

"When Stuart came in it needed something else, a fresh face and energy. And now it needs something else again, they'll need someone who will be able to pick it up and get it going again."

Motherwell had finished tenth under Malpas when McGhee took over and he led them to third and seventh in his two campaigns before leaving for Aberdeen. Although financial limitations and modest, stagnant home attendances were dispiriting - and doubtless will be again to McCall's successor - McGhee could understand the current flood of applications. "Even if they won the Europa League the attendances the following season wouldn't stay much bigger for long.

"They are a type of club which is limited in its crowds, which affects what they can do when it comes to keeping good player and good managers. At a club like Motherwell you have to beg, borrow and steal, you have to use all your tricks, all your contacts, all your knowledge, and you do that over and over and eventually you run out of tricks.

"But they are still an attractive club. They are in the top league in Scotland and they have recently had a very good track record. A lot of young managers will view it as an opportunity. One of the things about Motherwell is the people. I don't mean to sound sycophantic. They are very down-to-earth, it's old-fashioned in that respect as a football club.

"They are people who do more than the call of duty, they do more than they get paid for, they do things for nothing, they have been there for a long time, they are still a traditional club like that. And they get behind their managers. I mean the staff and the board and so on, they get fully behind their managers.

"That's a great thing. The next manager will feel that there is support and enthusiasm for him."

Considering the number of applications from the fraternity, the enthusiasm is two-way.