Next Sunderland manager: Ex-Preston and Norwich City boss Alex Neil breaks silence over Cats link

Roy Keane remains the overwhelming favourite to be named the new boss, with Neil, Grant McCann and Neil Warnock among the other names in the frame.

But working as a pundit over the weekend, Neil was keeping coy on the Sunderland links.

Neil told Sky Sports: "I am not quite sure. They are going through their process.

"Your name gets banded about with a lot of jobs from time to time. Things should become clearer over the next few days."

BetVictor suspended betting on Sunderland's next manager following Keane's comments on ITV last Friday.

When asked about the job on TV, Keane told ITV: "I’ve got no control over that, so no comment.

"I’ve made that clear over the last few years I’d like to go back into as a manager but of course a club has to want you, you have to want that club and just as important the contract has got to be right so we see how things take shapes over the next few days."

It is understood, however, that Keane is not the only candidate for the job.

Indeed, Kristjaan Speakman has insisted that Sunderland are not rushing into appointing a replacement for Johnson.

"The difficult thing is there is a lot of speculation, you’re always going to get that at a club like Sunderland, ” Speakman said.

"At the minute, we’re going through our process and we have to be respectful to the candidates within that process, we have to be respectful that for the fans and the club we have to make the right appointment.

"At the minute we are interviewing, fact-finding on another couple of people

"You’ve got different people with different backgrounds… we are speaking to coaches directly, we are speaking to agents, solicitors who deal with these members of staff.

"It’s about trying to find the right match, you don’t want to go on hearsay or perceptions."

Asked if the new appointment would be on a short-team deal, Speakman said discussions had not yet got that far.

"We’ll have that specific discussion once we’ve got the end of this first part of the process,” he said.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Sunderland AFC coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor