Daniel Stendel, Gary Rowett, Garry Monk, Chris Coleman and Gary Megson are all under consideration to take over as manager at Sheffield Wednesday, The Daily Mirror's live transfer blog (17/07, 19:58) has reported.

The Owls are searching for a new manager after Premier League side Newcastle United announced that they had appointed Steve Bruce as their new boss on Wednesday, less than five months after the 58-year-old had taken over at Hillsborough.

It seems that Wednesday are now moving quickly to find a replacement for Bruce with the new season little over three weeks away, with a number of names apparently in contention.

Both Monk and Rowett are available after being sacked by Wednesday's Championship rivals Birmingham and Stoke respectively earlier in the year, and both have previously managed a number of other clubs at this level. Monk also briefly spent a spell on loan at Hillsborough between 2002 and 2003, during which time he made 15 appearances for the Owls.

Coleman meanwhile is also available immediately, after the former Fulham, Wales, and Sunderland boss was sacked by Chinese side Hebei China Fortuna in May after a string of poor performances.

Megson, however, has been out of work some time longer than that. The former midfielder, who made almost 300 appearances for Wednesday across two spells with the club during his playing days, hasn't held a full time managerial position since being sacked after a year in charge of the Owls in February 2012, with a brief spell as caretaker manager at West Brom in 2017 his only managerial role since then.

Of the five names on the shortlist, Stendel is the only one currently employed in a managerial role. The German enjoyed an impressive debut campaign in England with Barnsley last season, helping the Tykes win immediate promotion back to the Championship during his first year at Oakwell. There are currently 12 months remaining on his contract with the Owls' Yorkshire rivals.

The Verdict

This doesn't look to be too bad a shortlist in all fairness.

With the long, drawn-out process to appointing a manager from another club could lead to, and the lack of time there is between now and the start of the season to prepare, an out of work and immediately available manager does seem to be the best way for Wednesday to go right now.

It is no huge surprise, therefore, to see that the majority of those being linked with the role here are free agents, and the Championship experience of someone such as Monk or Rowett could be essential in providing a steady footing for Wednesday as they look to find their feet at the start of the campaign.

That Wednesday have moved so quickly to identify these targets is encouraging, and you feel they will now want to make a quick decision on one of them in order to give them the best possible chance of building on the promising end to last season under Bruce.