A major update has emerged on Sunderland's search for a new manager this week...

What's the talk?

Daily Mail reporter Craig Hope has revealed the Black Cats are unlikely to confirm their latest head coach before the weekend's League One action. The club are in talks with multiple candidates over the role, with Kristjaan Speakman hard at work to source Lee Johnson's replacement at the Stadium of Light.

Hope tweeted on Thursday night: "Sunderland interviewed former Hull boss Grant McCann today. Roy Keane remains the top choice of many within the club & will also be spoken to. However, an appointment is unlikely to be confirmed before Saturday’s game against Doncaster."

Gutted

Sunderland fans will surely be gutted by this news for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it suggests that the club did not have a clear plan in place when they sacked Johnson after the 6-0 defeat to Bolton. Although Roy Keane appears to be the favourite for the job, they are looking at more than one manager and it seems as though they did not have a clear choice in mind at the time of the ex-Bristol City coach's sacking.

This will frustrate fans and leave them wondering how meticulous the planning is behind the scenes, possibly giving supporters flashbacks to the time that a scout placed Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a list of potential targets while he was still at Ajax. The gaffe highlighted issues at the Stadium of Light and the concerns over those problems may resurface if the club do not make a decision on Johnson's replacement quickly.

The supporters will also be gutted over the time involved in making the decision because of what it could mean on the pitch. Sunderland have an interim coaching setup in place and this leaves a cloud of confusion over the players as they wonder who their next manager will be and whether or not they will be in his plans, which could affect results on the pitch in the meantime.

Doncaster travel to the Stadium of Light on Saturday and the Black Cats faithful may well be frustrated not to see a new man in the helm, which could be intensified if they go on to draw or lose the match. They are third in the League One table as it stands and every point is crucial in their bid to secure automatic promotion, which is why fans will be gutted with the time it is taking to bring someone in as Johnson's successor.

AND in other news, Exciting new name emerges in Sunderland manager search, he's better than Roy Keane...