COLIN TODD is the first manager to publicly declare an interest in succeeding Dave Penney in the Darlington hotseat after the former Middlesbrough and Bolton boss announced: “a challenge like Darlington wouldn’t daunt me.”

Todd recently ended a spell in charge with Danish first division side Randers FC and is eager to make a return to club management in England.

The Chester-le-Street-based manager has kept close tabs on events at Quakers in recent weeks and has thrown his hat into the ring despite the club’s current financial travails.

“I want to get back in to the game,” noted the 60-year-old who also enjoyed spells in charge with Bradford City and Derby County. “I don’t know what’s going to happen at Darlington but I’d like to be considered for the vacancy. I think my track record is good.

“I know what’s required in a situation like that. I just hope they survive and the administrators get the right people in to sort things out financially.

But we’ll wait and see,”

he said.

Todd began his playing career at Sunderland where his cultured displays at left back caught the attention of Derby manager Brian Clough who paid £175,000 for his services.

An eight-year spell at the Baseball Ground earned Todd 27 England caps and two league titles before he joined Everton and Birmingham City before linking up again with Clough at Nottingham Forest.

After cutting his managerial teeth at Middlesbrough, Todd moved to Bolton Wanderers where he forged a reputation for using his extensive contacts in Europe to unearth a series of bargain buys. The capture of goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen for a fee of £300,000, who has since gone on to make almost 400 appearances at the Reebok, was one of a host of unheralded foreign imports who became mainstays of the Bolton side.

Todd was also responsible for bringing current Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen to England along with Claus Jensen, Ricardo Gardner and Per Frandsen.

Despite his recent spell in Denmark, Todd has closely monitored the behind the scenes wranglings that continue to threaten Darlington’s future. The deadline set by administrators for potential bidders to take over at Quakers has now passed and with a player exodus expected over the next few weeks the club’s future remains uncertain.

Former vice-chairman Raj Singh revealed he is running out of patience with the protracted process to find a buyer for the crisis club.

Todd has experience of operating within tight financial constraints and would be happy to work with any potential new owners to rebuild the depleted squad ahead of next season’s League Two campaign.

“You have to balance everything out and I’m well aware of the problems they’ve been going through of late,” he confirmed.

“If the chairman, whoever that might be, sits me down and says ‘this is the budget you’re dealing with’ then you go ahead and deal with it. There’s no point beating about the bush and when you get into a job complaining you’ve got no money to spend.

You have to work within the parameters of what the chairman says. You utilise the loan market.

“When I was manager at Bradford we took players on loan from Premier League clubs to help bolster the squad. Everyone was tipping us for relegation but we ended up just missing out on the play-offs. I had to wheel and deal, I’m used to that. I can look back on my career and say that I’ve left clubs in a far better positions. I think any chairman would say I did a decent job for them.”

Meanwhile, Jason Kennedy was last night linked with a move to League One Huddersfield Town.

Weekend reports also linked him with Hartlepool, but boss Chris Turner said: “I don’t think so – we want players from a higher level. A lot of clubs will be looking at the likes of Darlington and Stockport because players will be available.

“We have a list of players we want to target and try to bring in. Hopefully, it will be a busy summer for everyone.”