John Toshack has ruled himself out of the running for the Republic of Ireland job by taking over as coach of Italian Serie B side Catania.
His move to Italy has led to former Middlesboro boss, and Manchester United legend 'Bryan Robson' being installed as the new bookies' favourite to replace Mick McCarthy.
Former Liverpool striker and Tranmere boss John Aldridge and Luton Town manager Joe Kinnear are also strongly tipped. Toshack has coached Real Madrid, Swansea, Sporting Lisbon, Real Sociedad and Deportivo La Coruna.
He has also had spells at the helm of Besiktas, St Etienne and the Welsh national team. Catania sacked their previous coach Maurizio Pellegrino after their 2-0 home defeat by Napoli on Tuesday. They are currently fourth-bottom in the second division of Italian football.
Irish Lions injury update
Republic of Ireland internationals Steven Reid and Richard Sadlier of Millwall, are both making steady progress towards full fitness, and Stephen Reid could possibly make a weekend return.
Millwall play Preston this coming Saturday in the League at the New Den, and Stephen Reid's progress has give Lions boss, Mark McGhee, a possible option of including the Irish midfielder on the team-sheet as substitute.
Reid was due to feature in Millwalls reserve match with Southend on Tuesday night, but Millwall playing staff felt that the time was not right for the Irish star. Richard 'Sads' Sadlier has been sidelined with a hip injury since last April, and unlike Reid his rehabilitation has not been so positive, but 'McGhee' sees the Irish striker, (believed by many to be that of Niall Quinn's long term successor at International level) with at least six weeks before he's ready.
"Sads' still has a lot of work to do and won't be back to full fitness for possibly another six weeks, but you can see the signs of improvement which is great for him and the club.
"We had thought about playing 'Reidy' (Stephen) in the reserve game against Southend, but felt that it would be of greater benefit to him to do more intensive training than an hour or so in the reserves.
"He will continue to train very hard. Hopefully we will see how he looks by Friday. He is a very strong lad and can cope as well as anyone coming back quickly. However, we will not rush him - we will have to be convinced he's absolutely right."
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