SLOWLY the photo-fit for Wanderers’ new manager is taking shape – someone able to rebuild damaged relationships with supporters, lift the team spirit and operate within a tight financial budget.

But as chairman Phil Gartside looks for a new man to lead matters on the pitch, should he also be taking a wider view on the future? Should the structure of the managerial team also be addressed?

Well before Dougie Freedman’s departure last week fans had voiced their concerns over a lack of identity at their club.

Whether it was prompted by the significant change in personnel, the deteriorating relationship with the club’s management, tactical issues on the pitch or concern over finances, the general fan base feels more disconnected with their team now than at any time in recent memory.

And that is quite a sizeable task for one man to change.

Former Wanderers skipper Gudni Bergsson has called for Wanderers to adopt a “philosophy” that would remain in place longer term, but also utilise the experience of some of the club’s former players.

His idea involves the instalment of new positions above the management team that would not only ease some of the day-to-day burden on Gartside at chairman level, but also assist with matters such as recruitment on the football side.

The perfect example of all this is German giants Bayern Munich, a club who have embraced their past to the degree that their staff list looks more like a who’s who.

That base of familiar names at directorial level has enabled Bayern’s brand to remain firm through decades, and while the product on the pitch has changed since the arrival of Pep Guardiola, the mass appetite from the paying public has not.

Club of much more similar size, such as West Brom and Swansea City, have gone along similar lines in recent years.

Their policy has been to appoint a head coach, while also using technical directors to spread the workload and maintain a constant theme, whoever occupies the managerial hotseat.

Les Ferdinand – another ex-White – was installed as Head of Football at QPR this week, a move seen by some to destabilise the position of Harry Redknapp but by the club as something that will improve consistency from youth to the senior set-up.

According to a statement released this week, the former England striker’s job spec was to “be charged with overseeing the structure of the footballing side of the club, focusing on improving the footballing philosophy at all levels.”

In Bergsson’s estimation, a network of the club’s former players, spread across Europe and further afield, are already willing to step forward and assist the Whites if they were asked.

Names such as Michael Johansen, Ricardo Gardner and Ivan Campo have previously put themselves forward – either in an ambassadorial or recruitment sense – but their invitations have so far been unaccepted.

Embracing the past has become a sensitive subject at Wanderers in recent years, particularly in Freedman’s reign.

Tension between former players and the existing management has caused division – and Gartside will not want that to become an issue for the next man he appoints.

The chairman’s every decision is under increasing scrutiny by a disaffected support and so he may welcome the chance to bring back a familiar name who can help mend some bridges.

Most of the leading candidates for the new manager’s post do not have the local connection that many fans crave.

There is no doubt, however, that they would readily take to anyone who can get results.

Gartside has looked for four managerial replacements in the last seven years but his current search is quite unique.

When Sam Allardyce departed unexpectedly the decision to turn to Sammy Lee was made with the hope of continuity. Gary Megson’s arrival, after Lee’s brief and unremarkable tenure, was more a matter of crisis management.

When Owen Coyle came in, there was an element of public relations about his arrival, intended to calm supporters who had fallen out with the club during Megson’s stormy reign.

Coyle’s shortfalls were tactical, and that partly explains the appeal of his successor Dougie Freedman, who had cut a particularly impressive figure early in his managerial career at Crystal Palace.

Gartside’s next appointment – arguably the most important in his 15 years in the hotseat – needs to tick every box.

Whether he considers the advice of one of the club’s most revered and erudite ex-players is a matter for further down the line.