West Brom manager Roy Hodgson was recently unveiled as the new England manager. However, he will continue to remain as the West Brom manager for the remaining two matches of the Premier league season.

This has not prevented the club from looking at the possible replacements now itself. A lot of big names have been linked with the job including the likes of former West Ham manager Alan Curbishley. Alan Curbishley has been out of work for quite a while now, but it is thought that he is now ready to return to management after doing a lot of punditry work on television.

Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton, though, is believed to be the front-runner for the job given his experience of having managed both in the Championship and the Premier league with great success. Chris Hughton has managed to lead Birmingham into the play-offs position, despite the huge number of well-documented financial problems surrounding the club. Even though he has not spent a lot of money, he has been able to get the best out of his players at his disposal. Many also regard him to be extremely unlikely to get the sack from the Newcastle United managerial position.

"The board will now concentrate on the important task of appointing a new head coach to continue our project as we prepare for a third successive season in the Barclays Premier League. We did not want Roy to leave and he will be a tough act to follow. Roy's appointment as England manager is obviously disappointing news for the club as we would have liked him to sign a new contract, which was in the process of negotiation, and remain here," said club chairman Jeremy Peace regarding the appointment of a new manager and the disappointment of losing Roy Hodgson.