It’s understood that one of applicants is from overseas – possibly ex-Manchester City striker Paul Dickov – and the other is a local coach, with the trio of Tony Vidmar, Damian Mori and Ricki Herbert thought to all be in the frame.

Storrie is keen to make an appointment soon with the Mariners to kick off their A-League season away to Perth Glory on October 8th.

When contacted by The World Game on Thursday, Storrie was unwilling to confirm the identity of the two remaining candidates, whittled down from an initial list of over 40 applicants, and a subsequent short-list of six.

Nor was owner Mike Charlesworth, though he hinted heavily that the club's preferred option might already be in the bag and that a second choice was only being considered should the preferred pick fall through at the last minute.

"I can't say who it is but we will get the guy we set out to get from the start," was all he would say.

Scotman Dickov’s emergence as a possible contender has raised some eyebrows in light of his underwhelming coaching record – the 43 year old quit as chief of Oldham Athletic after poor run results and was sacked from his only other gig by Doncaster Rovers.

Former Australia striker Damian Mori, who has been looking for an A-League opportunity for a number of years, has a sound track-reocord in his time spent with South Australian NPL team Adelaide City, while ex-Australia defender Tony Vidmar, who is coach of the Australia Under-17 side, also has strong credentials.

One-time New Zealand coach Herbert has long experience in the A-League with New Zealand Knights and Wellington Phoenix, and is looking for a new opportunity having split with the Maldives.

A well placed Mariners source said ahead of discussions with the local candidate that a decision would be made imminently to give the new coach a reasonable lead-in time to the new season as the club seeks to purge the nightmare of its the wooden spoon in 2015-2016 after just three wins in 27 games under Walmsley.

“A final decision has not yet been made, but it soon will and there are two contenders remaining.” said the source.

"Things will be resolved before the end of next week."

Having conducted interviews in England, after input from Mariners advisor and former Premier League boss Harry Redknapp and Charlesworth, Storirie will hold discussions with the local candidate in the coming days before making a final call.