Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri has shortlisted a number of potential candidates to become the new manager at Hillsborough - but he has already lost out on one of them.
Sky Sports' Lyall Thomas believes that Paul Cook, Vladimir Ivic, Henk ten Cate, Cosmin Contra and Pep Clotet are all on Chansiri's wish-list, but none are too keen on the job because Chansiri only wants to offer an initial contract until the end of the season.
Cook has already felt the wrath of Chansiri in the media, with the Owls' owner calling the former Wigan boss 'unprofessional' after Cook revealed he was offered the Wednesday job but turned it down.
It's becoming a long, drawn-out process but Clotet is an interesting name that had seemingly been added to the mix.
The Spaniard had worked as an assistant to Garry Monk at Swansea, Leeds and Birmingham before getting the job as head coach at the Blues (something Monk wasn't pleased about as he believed that Clotet had stabbed him in the back), but he departed St Andrew's in July 2020 after a poor run of form.
Clotet will now have to come off Chansiri's apparent shortlist though as he has managed to secure himself a new job elsewhere - and it's a familiar face that has given him the opportunity.
Massimo Cellino is a name that will make Leeds fans shudder, as there was so much turmoil during his three years running things at Elland Road.
But he has been in charge at Brescia in Italy since leaving Leeds in 2017 and they're currently in the second tier of Italian football, with Clotet confirmed as the new manager as the club sit 13th in the table.
Clotet is well-known to Cellino with the controversial Italian being the one that hired both Monk and Clotet in 2016, so he will know exactly what he is getting himself in to.
The Verdict
Even though he was apparently on Chansiri's shortlist, we may never know if Clotet was a serious contender for the job.
But it may not be the worst thing in the world that Wednesday have 'lost out' on him. Clotet isn't a proven head coach yet and seems to have more success as an assistant.
Plus with Neil Thompson getting strong results right now for the Owls, Chansiri may want to look a bit closer to home to potentially find Tony Pulis' replacement...