According to Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic, Mick McCarthy would be Stoke City's prime candidate to replace manager Nathan Jones.

The latter is currently skating on incredibly thin ice at the bet365 Stadium, with the Potters picking up just two points from their opening 10 Championship fixtures.

The Staffordshire outfit fell to their eighth defeat of the season on Tuesday night against fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town, with Jones admitting that he expected the "inevitable" to happen in terms of being sacked.

But Jones has since come out and said he has the full support of the club's owners and board, however it now seems that Stoke are still casting one eye on potential replacements if their form doesn't pick up soon.

Laurie Whitwell of the Athletic claims that McCarthy would be Stoke's number one target to replace Jones - his last job in club football came with Ipswich Town, where he endured a six-year stay at Portman Road.

The 60-year-old is currently the manager of the Republic of Ireland national side, and it is believed that he currently has no intentions of leaving before the European Championships in 2020.

But if the experienced boss is to have a change in heart, we take a look at two pros and two cons to Stoke appointing him...

Pro 1: Experience of Championship football

Whilst the appointment of McCarthy would be an eyebrow-raising one for many, one thing that he does possess that Jones doesn't is a huge amount of experience as a manager, particularly in the Championship.

McCarthy has managed nearly 1000 games in career - 279 with Ipswich mostly in the second tier, and 270 at the helm of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Whilst Jones may be an up and coming manager, he is still learning the division, and they need to pick up results sooner than later but relegation looks a certainty.

McCarthy knows how to win games at this level.

Pro 2: Hunger to prove people wrong

Ipswich went in a completely different direction when they parted ways with McCarthy, with fans demanding the club to appoint a younger, upcoming manager who plays in a different way to the 60-year-old.

After being replaced by a rookie manager in Paul Hurst, whose time with Ipswich turned out to be catastrophic to say the least, McCarthy would be hungry to prove his critics wrong.

Keeping Stoke up, at the minute, would be a massive achievement.

Con 1: The end of his time at Ipswich

Stoke need a manager who can come in and unite the fans after a dismal start to the season - the Potters need all the support they can get.

But the end of McCarthy's tenure at Portman Road turned sour, with the manager resigning midway through a press conference after a fractious relationship with fans.

It would be a risk to appoint him, because if things don't pick up, the atmosphere would turn even more toxic.

Con 2: Style of football

McCarthy's style of football caused plenty of frustration amongst Ipswich fans during his time at Portman Road.

His long-ball, direct style of play received plenty of criticism, hence why they demanded a change at the end of the 17/18 campaign.

Stoke have plenty of flair players who love to get the ball down and play, which has arguably been the best bit about their play this season.

But whether McCarthy's style of play would suit the players, is a completely different question.