MELBOURNE president Jim Stynes has already identified two candidates he hopes will apply to replace sacked chief executive Paul McNamee.

Outgoing Fremantle chief Cameron Schwab and Brian Cook's No. 2 man at Geelong Stuart Fox were the two names canvassed by Stynes when he met with the media to discuss the termination of McNamee's contract at Junction Oval on Wednesday.

"Well, right now we're in the marketplace for a new CEO and we will be putting it out there to anyone who is interested in the position," he said.

"I would hope that people like Cameron Schwab and Stuart Fox would be interested in this position and would apply for it.

"I'm very confident that we'll attract someone that can do the job."

Asked what type of chief executive the club was attempting to lure, Stynes said a strong football background was something that would be considered.

Stynes said he did not want to specify why the club didn't think McNamee, who had a long-standing association with tennis and golf, was the right person for the position.

The board met on Tuesday morning, before its meeting with McNamee in the afternoon, and he vacated his position in the evening.

"I don't want to go into detail about Paul and I respect him as a person and his future career opportunities. I don't want to deny him of that, it was an internal decision that we made as a board," Stynes said, adding that McNamee would be paid out for three months.

The 1991 Brownlow Medallist said he hoped the club's supporters would place their faith in his board's decision to overturn the appointment of McNamee, made by the Paul Gardner-led board four months ago.

"The previous board made the appointment and we came in. Obviously Paul Gardner wasn't to know that he was going to step down within two months of that appointment, so we've been in and at the moment we have a lot of work to do," Stynes said.

"Our immediate focus has been on the financial position at the club and the board as a group made the decision that we didn't believe Paul was the right person to take us forward over the next three to five years.

"I would hope that the supporters – they've placed faith in us – and we're up for election at the AGM and obviously they'll make a decision whether we're the right people to lead this club.

"But right now the board that I was able to bring together, as a collective group, we believe we're making the right decision for this football club to secure its future and to save this club in the short term."

Stynes said the suggestion made by McNamee that he was "extremely upset" when not consulted in the latter part of the appointment was wrong.

Stynes met with McNamee, Fox and two other candidates in the initial interview process.

"This decision has got nothing to with the fact that I wasn't involved with that decision," Stynes said, clarifying that he was asked to be involved in the process before the club handled it internally.

Stynes added that he respected McNamee and that he took a risk on joining Melbourne.

He also didn't wish any "undue stress or bad blood between the two [of us] because I like the guy and the board do too.

"It was part of the contract that he signed and we will honour that and what you've got to understand is that I think Paul is a good guy – this is nothing to do with Paul the person – I think he's a genuine bloke and he's tried to do the best that he can," Stynes said.

"It's not an easy thing for me to have to do and I don't like doing this.

"I didn't come in and set this as a goal and when I met Paul at the beginning, I said 'Look, I'll give you a fair go and we'll see how it runs'.

"But we can't waste time with where we're at, because we're under so much pressure and the job required under Paul Gardner's direction has changed quite a lot since we came in.

"Some of Paul's (McNamee) strengths are not probably strengths under this board's direction."