Rovers are working to reduce their managerial shortlist with a further round of interviews scheduled for next week.
The shortlist of managers was expanded from its original five, with at least eight understood to have been under consideration for the role.
The shortlisted number of managers has been reduced with news that Carlos Carvalhal, one of the original five, is set to take up interest from UAE Pro League side Al-Wadha and sign a one-year deal with the club.
Daniel Farke is also out of the frame, with the German understood to be in advanced talks with a Bundesliga club, having been linked with the vacant positions at both Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach.
The club are into the third week of their search for a replacement for Tony Mowbray, whose contract wasn’t renewed after five years in charge.
Recommendations have been sent to owners Venky’s, who will be involved in cutting the shortlist down to around three names, with interviews then expected to resume next week.
Evaluations of the next round of interviews will be done before the preferred candidate is chosen.
Rovers’ first round of interviews ended last week, but there was always the prospect of a second round of interviews being held, not least given that could yet include managers who are in-work.
That would need Rovers to approach their respective clubs to ask for permission to speak with them, and the possibility of compensation being paid should they turn out to be the preferred candidate.
Mowbray’s successor will be Venky’s eighth separate managerial appointment since taking ownership of the club, but Michael Appleton, in January 2013, remains the only in-work manager to have been hired, though Steve Kean and Gary Bowyer were both promoted from roles already within the club.
Yet as the search continues, there is a realistic prospect of the club turning their attentions to in-work managers, particularly with news that Carvalhal and Farke, managers with Championship experience and recent history on working with young layers, are out of the frame.
Speculation has intensified since the weekend, though reports that the club are in advanced talks with any specific candidate are wide of the mark, with work still to be done in the search.
The players will return for pre-season testing in mid-June, before the close season work starts in earnest later in the month.
Rovers are working to have a manager in place by then, while they are also looking to appointing a Sporting Director.
That search is running parallel to the manager search, and won’t impact on the selection of a head coach which is seen as the more pressing of the two positions.
That comes as Rovers look to restructure their footballing operations, with Mark Venus having also left alongside Mowbray following his departure.
The club’s other staff remain in situ, first-team coach David Lowe and goalkeeping coach Ben Benson having been promoted from previous roles in the Academy upon Mowbray’s appointment in February 2017.
Damien Johnson was then promoted from his position as Under-23s manager to take up the newly-created first-team technical coach and head of player development, in the summer of 2019.
The trio are set to continue in their roles, though there is an opening for the new manager to bring in some of his own staff following Venus’ departure, while the club are also in search of a new head of athletic performance after Liam Mason’s move to Newcastle United.
Interviews have been held for that position, but a final decision could be held back from given the on-going search for a manager.
Head of recruitment John Park is also still in his role, despite Mowbray stating that he expected him to leave alongside him.
Park, who worked with Mowbray and Venus and Hibs and Celtic, arrived at the club last summer following the departure of Stuart Harvey to Sunderland.
Despite remaining in position however, he is out of contract, with his deal due to expire at the end of next month.
Rovers aren’t commenting on their search for a new manager, with almost three weeks having now passed since the club released a statement to confirm the departure of Mowbray.
The club have therefore kept their list of managerial targets largely under wraps, with the number of known, and available, candidates dwindling by the day.
Carlos Carvalhal was one of the earliest names to be linked with the job, those intensifying after he took the decision to leave SC Braga after two seasons.
Interest in the Portuguese coach from the middle East was well known, though the 56-year-old held talks with Rovers and had been keen on a return to England where he had previously worked with Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City.
Yet despite holding talks with Rovers, there was no job offer made to him, with Carvalhal looking set to take up a bumper offer from Al Wadha to take up the managerial position there on a one-year deal.
Daniel Farke was also one of the first names wanted by Rovers supporters, and there had been an indication that he would be the first-choice of the owners.
Farke is best known for his work with Norwich City, winning the Championship title in both 2019 and 2021, and had worked under a sporting director previously.
His representatives are understood to have put his name forward for the role, with Farke a free agent since leaving Russian side Krasnodar in March, without managing a game, that coming four months after his dismissal from Carrow Road.
Interviewed earlier this week, Farke said: “I will only take on a project that I am 100 percent convinced of. And where I have the feeling that the ideas of the club and mine are absolutely the same.”
And it is understood that Farke is now set to return to Germany and take up his first job in the Bundesliga.
Duncan Ferguson was one name in the frame, with reports outlining that he was Rovers’ preferred choice to take on the job.
Ferguson is currently on the coaching staff of Frank Lampard at Everton where he is a legend of the club following a distinguished spell as a player.
The 50-year-old has had two caretaker spells in charge of Everton, first in December 2019 when he won one and drew three of his four matches in charge, and then the defeat to Aston Villa in January prior to the arrival of Lampard.
He is heavily regarded by, and has the backing of, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, and is keen to move into management, but isn’t thought to be under consideration at this time.
David Unsworth was also linked to the job, a man with Lancashire links and has also come up against Rovers extensively in a coaching capacity, albeit at Under-23s level.
Unsworth, who played 350 times across two spells at Everton, moved into coaching after his retirement from playing in 2009 and has had two caretaker spells in charge of the Toffees, and the same at Preston North End.
The 48-year-old has largely worked within Academy football, enjoying success with Everton’s Under-23s side, twice winning the Premier League 2 title, and later served as Academy director before leaving the club in April to pursue his ambition of becoming a first-team manager.
However, despite the links, he isn’t under consideration for the position.
Michael Beale: While thought to have been under consideration by Rovers, QPR were always more strongly linked, and look to have found their man in the search for a replacement for Mark Warburton.
Beale is currently No.2 to Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa, having also worked with the former Liverpool and England star at Rangers during his three-and-a-half year stay.
Prior to that, the 41-year-old had a short spell coaching at Brazilian side Sao Paulo, but his background is in youth coaching, including working alongside Gerrard within the Liverpool Academy.
Gareth Ainsworth: The boy-hood Rovers fan and Wycombe Wanderers manager, was an early favourite with bookmakers. That was likely down to his links with the club, as much as his success with the Chairboys who missed out on an immediate return to the Championship following their play-off final defeat to Sunderland.
Ainsworth pledged his future to Wycombe in the wake of that defeat, with QPR having also been linked with a move for the 48-year-old who had a long spell as a player at Loftus Road.
An approach from Rovers could yet change that stance, but that is yet to be made.
Equally, other in-work managers would well come into the picture should an approach be made to their club ahead of Rovers carrying out further interviews.
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