Former Donegal football manager Jim McGuinness has emerged as a surprise candidate for the vacant head coach's job at Dundalk.
The Lilywhites have been under the temporary stewardship of sporting director Jim Magilton since last month.
Filippo Giovagnoli and Shane Keegan both left the club within hours of one another, with Dundalk languishing in the wrong half of the table.
McGuinness has been part of a UEFA Pro Licence course since January of 2019, in a class that also contains Republic of Ireland assistant Keith Andrews, Ireland's record goalscorer Robbie Keane and Damien Duff.
The 2012 All Ireland-winning manager had a brief spell in charge of American USL side Charlotte Independence, but left after just 14 games at the helm. Prior to his Stateside sojourn, McGuinness held positions at both Celtic and Beijing Guoan.
According to Dundalk reporter Gerry Malone, a deal has already been signed to bring McGuinness to Oriel Park.
Speaking to OTB Sports from Charlotte in 2019, McGuinness said the managers he's worked with so far have influenced his coaching style.
"The guys that I've been lucky to work with," he said, "Neil Lennon, Ronny [Deila] and Brendan Rodgers and Roger Schmidt. You spoke about common themes of pressing and the way the game has gone now and this modern approach.
"Roger Schmidt blew my mind away to an extent when I went to Beijing."
Addressing his underwhelming tenure in Charlotte, McGuinness said last year, "At Charlotte I wasn't able to get a long pre-season or to get athletes through the door to play a very intense game.
"Based on my experience in Donegal, I wanted to play with high intensity to overcome the opposition and force mistakes, when we get the ball to play intelligent, smart football."
“We are here to stay” | Arsenal legend Bergkamp determined to complete takeover
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
