Bristol Rovers are reportedly considering the appointment of former Leeds United and Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom as their hunt for a new boss gets underway, according to The Bristol Post.

Rovers parted ways with Graham Coughlan earlier this week, choosing to take up the Mansfield job in order to be closer to his family, and the currently unnattached Heckingbottom is reportedly a candidate.

He was most recently sacked as manager of Hibernian after the club won just one of their opening 11 league matches of the current season, despite experiencing a strong start after taking over in the previous campaign.

QUIZ: Can you remember the outcome of Bristol Rovers’ last 15 Boxing Day matches?

Heckingbottom enjoyed success at Barnsley but after taking the role as Leeds boss, following the sacking of Thomas Christiansen, he was soon out of his depth - receiving the sack at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.

Managing at the Memorial Stadium should be an appealing prospect to many managerial hopefuls, with the club currently sat in fourth place in League One and looking like a good bet to achieve at least a play-off spot.

The verdict

Heckingbottom is an interesting option.

Giving that he has failed quite badly in his most recent jobs, it could be said that he is somebody the club should steer well clear of.

But there is clearly a good coach in there. Perhaps he just needs a job that does not bring as much pressure as the Leeds and Hibs roles undoubtedly did.

In that respect, Bristol Rovers could well be the perfect place for him to rediscover his mojo.