BURY legend Ryan Lowe has ruled himself out of taking the vacant managers job at Gigg Lane – but says he could be open to returning in a coaching role.

The fans' favourite rejected a “token” extension to his playing contract with Bury at the end of last season as he moved on to League Two side Crewe.

Since David Flitcroft's sacking last week, Shakers supporters on social media have called for the return of their goalscoring hero as manager.

The 38-year-old Liverpudlian was quizzed on the subject on BBC Radio Manchester on Monday night.

He was asked if he had submitted one of the 70 applications for the job chairman Stewart Day said he had received on Saturday, but replied: “Sadly not. There are a couple of reasons. One, I am not ready because I'm still playing and I don't want to just be thrown in the deep end, even though I have got all of my badges and I have got everything I need to be a manager.

“More importantly, I wouldn't want to go back to Bury and be their manager and let them down.

“The legacy I've got there and the so called legendary status that I've got, which I love and thrive off, as well as the bond I have got with the fans, I wouldn't want to ruin it.

“That's not being disrespectful to them or me, it's more I'm not ready yet.”

However, Lowe has left the door ajar for a return.

The former striker has made no secret of his desire to return to Gigg Lane in a coaching capacity when he hangs up his boots.

And he added: “I will manage Bury one day – that's a fact. I've got a plan, as everyone else has. I want to be a coach for a couple of years, then be an assistant manager and, when the time's right, go for a manager's role.

“If somebody approached me and asked me if I'd like to become the assistant manager at Bury, that's something I could not turn away.”