Style of play will be considered by Thomas when appointing Town's next boss

Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas will take into consideration the style of football of any future manager following the criticism Keith Curle received during his time in charge of the club.

Curle had success at Town after going from the bottom of League Two to League One in 18 months, however not all supporters were impressed by his method of success.

The Cobblers played a very direct style under Curle and became increasingly negative in their approach to games following their return to the third tier.

Whilst the playing style is unlikely to be the decisive factor of any future appointment, Thomas admits it will be taken into consideration.

He said: "There are some conversations we will be having and have already had with Jon because we do need to be more forward-thinking.

"Keith wanted to do that but there were times when he had the handbrake on a little bit and some of that is to do with personnel and injuries.

"I'm not going to say to a manager that they have to play a certain way. It's not what I do and it's not something I have never done but there will be conversations because it's about giving our forwards chances in the box to score goals."

But Thomas believes some of the criticism aimed towards Curle was unjustified.

He added: "It's something you always discuss when appointing a manager but I think there was some unfair criticism of Keith's style of play to be honest.

"I'm a firm believer in that the style of play is connected to results. It's something I see consistently on social media in terms of fans messaging me.

"When you're losing games, everything is wrong and it becomes all about the style of play but I can assure you I didn't get a single comment about the style of play when we beat Gillingham or even when we drew with Accrington.

"A lot of it is attached to winning games and if you're winning, a lot of things can be hidden to a degree."