Sunderland have endured a miserable day in their search for a new manager.
It has been over three months since Sunderland sacked Michael Beale and almost three weeks since the season ended.
But they still haven’t appointed a new head coach and could well be paying the price for it, with a number of their targets now likely to end up elsewhere.
Bo Svensson is their most recent target, but reports have now claimed that he is set to become Union Berlin coach.
Danny Rohl is‘close’ to agreeing a new contract at Sheffield Wednesday, while Norwich City have held talks with Will Still.
It has always seemed like Paul Heckingbottom could be the club’s back-up option if they failed to land one of the European targets, and they could well have been forced to fall back on his arrival if everything continued to go so pear-shaped.
However, it looks increasingly likely that the former Sheffield United coach won’t be available soon either.
Paul Heckingbottom ‘in the frame’ to join relegated club
According to journalist Alan Nixon, Heckingbottom is now ‘in the frame’ to take over from Tony Mowbray at Birmingham City.
Speaking on his Patreon, Nixon said: “Paul Heckingbottom is in the frame for the Birmingham City job – after holding talks with Plymouth Argyle.
“Heckingbottom is due for a meeting with the Blues who are working through a lot of candidates to replace Tony Mowbray.
“The experienced boss spoke to Argyle and is a strong favourite for the Championship post.
“However Blues may yet be more attractive if they choose him ahead of rivals as they carry out a process that may last a week or more.”
Nixon also claimed that Heckingbottom is the ‘strong favourite’ to join Plymouth, who narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship.
When should Sunderland start to panic?
With Sunderland taking their time with their appointment, it looks likely that Heckingbottom could be snapped up before they bring in their own manager.
The Black Cats will surely have a plan in place and could well be close to appointing Will Still, but it is hard to have faith in them after the disastrous arrival of Beale before Christmas.
Sunderland fans are currently pretty calm despite today’s chaos, with many thinking Still is close to moving to Wearside.
However, if the club fail to land the 31-year-old then they could be in huge trouble.
The options are rapidly running out and it will be the board who are to blame for not acting faster.