They were another Championship side who narrowly missed out on promotion, and another team who then decided to dispose of their manager. Since sacking Dave Jones at the end of last month Cardiff have been without a manager, although reports are today incredibly linking former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer as a potential candidate.

Some might say Jones was unlucky, others may say that he should have been given another crack at promotion after taking the Bluebirds so far during his six year spell. However, the new Cardiff board decided that they wanted a new man to take the reins and with that, Jones was shown his marching orders at the end of last month.

Since then, little has happened at the Cardiff City Stadium. There have been rumors about Jones’ successor although up until today, the likes of Malky Mackay, Chris Hughton and Derek McInnes have reportedly been the only other serious candidates.

However, it now appears that Shearer is the front runner following some mysterious betting patterns on Tuesday. Despite not being in the running a few days ago, odds for the former England captain dropped considerably where some bookmakers were only offering 1/8 odds on him being named as Jones’ successor.

Despite being a big name, it remains to be seen how the Cardiff faithful will react to this news. As a manager, Shearer’s record is not too impressive and as it stands he has just been in charge of the one club, having led Newcastle for eight games during the 08/09 season. As everyone knows, that spell was largely unsuccessful and after failing to save the Magpies from relegation, he has not managed since.

The new City boss will of course have to contend with a weakened squad, with several of the club’s players leaving through the summer. Top scorer Jay Bothroyd will leave when his contract expires, as will influential winger Chris Burke. With Michael Chopra being sold to Ipswich and Craig Bellamy returning to Manchester City following his loan, any new manager will have to completely rebuild Cardiff’s attacking force.

Billy Davies hadn’t enjoyed the most productive of relationships with the Nottingham Forest board and with that; it did not surprise many that he was shown his marching orders on Sunday. As soon as the announcement was made the rumours began and it didn’t take long for Steve McClaren to arrive as the front runner to take over from the opinionated Davies.

Just one day following Davies’ departure, McClaren has in fact been confirmed as the new manager of the City Ground outfit. Speaking to the club’s official website, chief executive Mark Arthur clearly thought the capture came as something of a coup and said: “Steve has a proven record of coaching and managing at club level.

“The club moved quickly to secure his services as it is rare for a manager and coach of his undoubted calibre to become available.”

Former England manager McClaren signs a three-year contract with Forest, who once again missed out on promotion through the playoffs this year. It was the second time during Davies’ reign that the club failed and following several disagreements over transfer budgets, it appears as though the club’s board lost patience with the former Derby manager.

There were rumours that Davies himself would be the person to end his tenure at the City Ground but after pledging his alliance for another season after a playoff semi-final defeat to Swansea last month, it looked as though he would certainly lead the club as he entered the final year of his contract.

However, McClaren’s availability has seemingly persuaded the Forest board into opting for a change as they attempt to bounce back to the Premiership for the first time since 1999.

McClaren’s CV certainly seems impressive for a Championship outfit and while many will remember him for that disastrous spell as England manager between 2006 and 2007, he has still experienced huge successes in domestic football with Middlesbrough and Dutch side FC Twente. Forest will be hoping that these experiences are sufficient to aid him to launch a serious automatic promotion push – something that the club failed to due under the outspoken Davies.

After sacking Micky Adams following their relegation a few weeks ago, there has been plenty of speculation regarding Sheffield United’s new manager. Today however the Bramall Lane outfit have finally made their decision, with former Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Wilson being handed the role.

For most managerial appointments, there is usually a reasonable amount of debate amongst supporters on whether or not a board has made the right decision. Sheffield United fans meanwhile have taken reactions to a whole new level, with around four hundred thought to be demonstrating outside Bramall Lane following the announcement.

Despite the protestations, United chairman Kevin McCabe claims that Wilson was at the top of his wanted list and he is delighted to have secured the appointment. Speaking to the club’s official website, McCabe said: “Danny was at the top of my wanted list for football reasons.

“Danny was the outstanding candidate from the group of potential managers, all with strong profiles and good track records.”

It’s thought that the main reason for the supporters’ response is due to the 51-year-old’s past. He not only played for bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday, but he also managed them and also had a spell, which happened to be his most successful, at fellow rivals Barnsley. What’s more, with so many managers out of work, some of their supporters were hoping for a more substantial appointment.

As it turns out, their new manager hasn’t enjoyed the best of times in recent years. While he enjoyed early success with previous club Swindon, he couldn’t maintain this and in the end he left the Robins on the verge of relegation. With Sheffield United aiming to bounce back to the Championship following their relegation, it remains to be seen whether Wilson can resurrect his managerial reputation and also get the Bramall Lane faithful on side.

Since losing their manager a couple of weeks ago, there have been several names thrown into the hat for the vacant Barnsley manager position. However, despite being the clear favourite only a few days ago, Keith Hill has today confirmed that he is now no longer interested in the post.

It was revealed on Friday how the Rochdale manager had been given permission to talk to the Tykes but after early discussions, it appears as though no deal could be reached between the two parties.

Having masterminded Rochdale’s first promotion in over thirty years Hill is something of a hero at Spotland and it looks as though it will take an irresistible offer for him to give that job up. Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Hill said that while it was hard to turn down an offer in the Championship, the job didn’t seem right to him:

“The most difficult thing to turn down was the chance to manage in the Championship.

“Nothing has gone wrong it is just down to choice. We’ve decided to stay at Rochdale because we are ambitious but we’re also happy in our work here.

“On this occasion it just wasn’t right for me.”

It remains to be seen how the Tykes will react to this setback, after Hill was named as the preferred choice for the club. Now, it’s thought that the Oakwell outfit will conduct interviews with the likes of Kevin Blackwell, Russell Slade, Brian Laws and Alan Irvine before making a decision on Mark Robins’ replacement.

Keith Hill meanwhile, appears to be staying at Spotland. It could be noted that his odds for the Sheffield United job came crashing down over the weekend but as we’ve seen in this case, the bookmakers aren’t always right. Following his success in the lower leagues, it surely can’t be long until he gets another offer anyhow.

They may not be the most fashionable club in the world, but Barnsley brought attention to themselves last week when the Championship side lost the services of manager Mark Robins. Robins opted to resign from his post at Oakwell, although after the club placed him on a 12-month notice period just days earlier, it appeared as more of a mutual arrangement. It came as a huge surprise after the former Rotherham boss had just led the Tykes to their best finish in years.

Since then, there has been plenty of speculation regarding Robins’ future although the favourite for the job now appears to be Rochdale manager Keith Hill. Hill has forged a superb reputation for himself after becoming the first man in over thirty years to mastermind a Rochdale promotion, only to then follow that up with a season of consolidation in League One. That has brought him several suitors, although it now appears as though Barnsley are the front runners.

The gambling market are fuelling this speculation after Hill’s odds for the job dropped significantly overnight. On Wednesday evening, the 41-year-old was 12/1 to take over but that has now dropped to an incredible 1/6.

However, despite the speculation, Rochdale remain defiant that Hill will remain at Spotland. Speaking to the club’s official website, Dale chief executive Colin Garlick said: “There’s been no approach from Barnsley, Sheffield United or any other club.

“Keith and I have been working together as normal making plans for pre-season.”

As the comments highlight, Sheffield United are another side who have reportedly been tracking Hill although it is thought that their advances are not as serious as their South Yorkshire rivals. Instead, United look set to ironically turn to Mark Robins, or perhaps another former Barnsley manager in Danny Wilson. They are the two names who have the most favourable betting odds and like on most occasions, it is very rare that the bookmakers are wrong.

If there ever was an instance of the grass is not always greener, this story about Micky Adams could be it. The 49-year-old has signed a three year contract as manager with Port Vale – the club he left only several months ago in December.

Adams opted to leave Vale Park for hometown side Sheffield United at the back end of 2010, with Vale at that time sat in 2^nd place in League Two. However, the move appears to have gone sour for all concerned, with Vale slipping down the table and finishing in 8^th place while Adams could not stop the rot at Sheffield United as the Blades were relegated.

At first it looked as though the former Leicester manager would have the opportunity to try and win back promotion with the Bramall Lane outfit, especially as he barely had time to make his own stamp on the team. However, the United board thought differently and decided to terminate his contract at the start of this week.

The news couldn’t have come at a better time for Vale, who have been without a permanent manager since Adams’ replacement Jim Gannon was sensationally sacked after just seventy five days in charge in March. While Adams did take several days to consider the offer, he told the BBC that he perhaps made a mistake in leaving the club in the first place: “I let my heart rule my head.

“I have followed Vale’s fortunes closely since I left and no-one is more disappointed than me that the club did not achieve promotion this season.”

The reappointment of Adams has already proved fruitful in one respect, with the highly rated defender Gareth Owen opting to pledge his future to Vale Park. There were strong rumours that he was set to join rivals Crewe yet following the appointment, he has now signed a new two-year contract.