FOREST legend Roy Keane and Champions League winner Roberto Di Matteo will top Nottingham Forest's list of targets after they took the shock decision to sack manager Sean O'Driscoll.
The Reds parted company with O'Driscoll last night, at a surprising time, in the aftermath of a 4-2 win over Leeds United that left them within touching distance of the play-offs.
The club's Kuwaiti chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi says they now want to appoint an ambitious manager with Premier League experience.
Keane, who made his name at the City Ground as a midfielder before moving to Manchester United, was at the game yesterday and is also understood to have been at Vicarage Road to see Forest lose to Watford on Saturday.
The Irishman has been out of work since leaving Ipswich in January 2011 but his Forest past may work in his favour, while he also has top-flight experience with Sunderland.
But Di Matteo could also be a strong contender, with the Al Hasawi family understood to be attracted by the prospect of having a Champions League winning manager in charge.
The 42-year-old Italian was sacked by Chelsea only a month ago, after making a stuttering start to the Premier League campaign. But, having steered the club to success over Bayern Munich at the end of last season to be crowned champions of Europe, he left Stamford Bridge with his reputation enhanced – and with Blues fans sad to see him go.
Di Matteo also has experience in the Championship, having guided West Brom to promotion into the top flight – and he also finished third in League One in his only season at MK Dons.
But Keane, 41, also has a promotion on his CV, having steered Sunderland into the top tier of English football and is also firmly in the running, while former Manchester City and QPR boss Mark Hughes is an outside candidate.
Keane's long-time assistant Charlie McParland was also a popular figure at Forest during a brief spell in charge alongside Frank Barlow, when the duo almost guided the club into the play-offs in League One.
Forest will make a swift appointment, as they are eager to give the new man the opportunity to work in the January transfer window, with chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi revealing this was a key part of the decision to part company with O'Driscoll.
"We feel we have developed a really strong squad of players but are still searching for consistency in terms of team performance, underlined by the fact that we have not won more than two games in succession in the Championship this season," he said.
"And with the January transfer window approaching, we feel it's the right time to make a change. We are looking to bring in an ambitious manager with Premier League experience."
O'Driscoll was only appointed in July and had lost just six of 24 Championship matches so far this season, leaving them one point off the top six. His side yesterday produced an outstanding performance, led by two goals from Billy Sharp, in a 4-2 win over Leeds.
But, within hours of the final whistle, Forest were looking for a new boss.
Read how we broke the story last night here.