Former Birmingham manager John Eustace and ex-Sunderland and West Brom boss Tony Mowbray are among the leading candidates to take over at Stoke City,
The former Fulham, Watford and Sheffield United manager Slavisa Jakanovic is also thought to be on Stoke’s shortlist - though the club have yet to narrow down their preferred candidate as they carry out an exhaustive process of due diligence.
Stoke are looking for their sixth manager in as many years, after sacking Alex Neil on Sunday.
Owner John Coates is desperate for some stability, and so will take his time to ensure a rigorous recruitment process is followed.
Both Eustace and Mowbray were surprise sackings, with Birmingham sixth and Sunderland only three points outside the play-offs when the respective managers were dispensed with.
Both men remained popular with large sections of the fans, when they left.
The draw with Swansea last night has steadied the ship, and given the Stoke bosses more time to focus on the managerial search.
Paul Gallagher could still be in caretaker charge for Stoke’s next game - away at West Brom, live on Sky Sports on Saturday lunchtime.
