Exeter City vice-chairman Julian Tagg says the club would not stand in manager Paul Tisdale's way if he wanted to leave for Swansea City.Tagg insists he has yet to hear from the Championship club who have been linked with making a move for Tisdale as a replacement for Paulo Sousa.
"There's been no contact from Swansea," Tagg told BBC Sport Wales.
"We wouldn't stand in his way, he's his own man, but we would do everything we could to keep him."
Tisdale, 37, was linked with the Swansea job last year when the club were looking for a replacement for Roberto Martinez who left to take over at Premier League Wigan Athletic.
Reports suggested Tisdale turned down the chance to speak to the Swans then and the job eventually went to Sousa, who parted company on Sunday to take up the reins at Leicester City.
Now the Liberty Stadium hot seat is vacant again, Tisdale is among the favourites for the job.
"I'm not in the least bit surprised," added Tagg. "Every time there's a job come up, our manager is top of the list, it was the same last year and he's still here."
Tisdale was appointed at St James' Park in 2006 after leading Team Bath to four promotions and in 2002 they became the first university side to reach the FA Cup first-round proper since 1881.
In his first season in charge he guided Exeter to the Conference play-off final, only to miss out on promotion to the Football League.
But Tisdale made amends a year later when they beat Cambridge United 1-0 at Wembley.
The Grecians then won back-to-back promotions on their return to the Football League, winning automatic promotion from League Two to League One.
There must be a shortlist of candidates in place, some who may have been on the cards last season
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That prompted interest from the Swans last summer, along with Southampton, but Tisdale opted to stay where he is and kept Exeter in League One after flirting with relegation.
Tagg says he is confident of keeping hold of Tisdale again this summer, but could not give any guarantees.
"I've learnt in football to never say never," he said.
"We are doing something special here and Paul is part of that. One day he will leave."
Meanwhile, one of the other favourites to land the job, Scunthorpe United manager Nigel Adkins, says he is also in the dark over speculation.
"I haven't heard anything," he said. "Someone's phoned me up and made me aware that I'm favourite for the job or something like that.
"I think I've been down this road on a couple of occasions so I just crack on and do what I'm doing at Scunthorpe United and I'm working very hard."
Ex-Bangor boss Adkins has twice led Scunthorpe to promotion to the Championship on a shoestring budget and they will begin their third season there after surviving relegation last season.
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport