Former West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce is reportedly due to be offered the role as head coach of Sunderland.
The position became available when Dick Advocaat resigned at the weekend, just eight games into the Premier League season.
Allardyce is said to be among a number of candidates, including Sean Dyche and David Moyes, but it is the 60-year-old who will have first refusal on the job, according to The Mirror.
However, Allardyce, who spent a year playing for Sunderland in the 1980s, is reportedly unsure about whether to return to management so soon after leaving West Ham in May.
The Black Cats are said to be keen to make a swift appointment.
