Ex-Leeds United boss once interested in Sunderland job unlikely to bag Cardiff role

Former Sunderland midfielder Dean Whitehead has taken temporary charge at Cardiff after the club recently sacked Mark Hudson, with ex-boss Warnock heavily linked with a return.

The Bluebirds only appointed Hudson permanently in November, after an interim spell in the dugout but have dropped to 21st in the Championship table.

Whitehead joined the club as a first-team coach in November, with a club statement confirming he will now take on the responsibility of interim first-team manager.

"I don't think it will be Neil Warnock. I think that ship has sailed a little bit,” Earnshaw told the BBC regarding Warnock. "I think it will be somebody else. There are a few contenders. There's a few people that obviously could do the job very well."

Warnock came close to taking the Sunderland job several times during his career and is said to have been interested after Alex Neil’s departure.