Barnsley have begun their interview process for the vacant head coach position, the Chronicle understands.
The Reds have narrowed down the candidates to a shortlist, believed to contain four names. They are looking at British coaches, hoping to emulate the appointments of Lee Johnson and Paul Heckingbottom rather than going down the foreign route again after 52-year-old Portuguese Jose Morais failed to keep them in the Championship.
Barnsley are hoping to have someone in place by the final week of this month, but it is possible that the process could drag into early June, with the players then expected back in pre-season training later that month.
They are looking for their seventh permanent boss in nine years after Heckingbottom moved to Leeds United in February and was replaced by Morais who won just three of his 15 matches. It has been 12 days since Jose Mourinho's former assistant was sacked minutes after their relegation from the Championship was confirmed with a 4-1 defeat at Derby County.
Barnsley man Mick McCarthy has been linked with a return to his hometown club but is understood to be keen on a return to the Championship, following his exit from Ipswich Town last month. Another popular ex-Red, and now academy manager, Bobby Hassell is understood not to be in contention for the job.
Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer has also been linked to the role as has West Brom caretaker boss and ex-Red Darren Moore as well as Wycombe's Gareth Ainsworth.
Other names who have been high up in the bookmakers' shortlist include Michael Jolley, the former Reds youth player who kept Grimsby Town in League Two this season, and Simon Grayson, who has led four clubs to promotion from League One and left Bradford City last week.
Another former Bradford City boss Stuart McCall has also been in the bookmakers' lists for the Oakwell vacancy as has Mark Warburton, who was sacked by Nottingham Forest in late 2017, as well as Uwe Rosler who was sacked by Fleetwood Town in February.
