So, who's next for the Canary hotseat?

Football being the callow, fickle beast that it is, no sooner has one long-serving manager departed the scene than attention immediately turns to who is likely to replace him. As I see it, there are five obvious candidates, each with their own pros and cons, and this article will briefly summarise each one, before reaching a conclusion.

Before we go any further, one man should be immediately ruled out. Some fans have allowed hope to get in the way of reason, and demanded Alan Curbishley be given the job. Curbishley, of course, enjoyed over a decade of success at Charlton: a club with a similarly friendly and family-based ethos as Norwich, and is known to be on good terms with Delia Smith. But frankly, he's done his time in the lower leagues, and is already dangerously close to being pigeonholed as a 'tu'penny ha'penny' manager, without the ambition to succeed at a genuinely big club: a man who was a decent contender for the England job is hardly going to return at a moderately-sized club without much money to spend, and which has sunk to 17th spot in the Championship. Curbishley, surely, is waiting for a decent-sized job in the Premiership to present itself, be it at West Ham, Fulham or perhaps even (given their surprisingly poor start to the season), Tottenham; but he certainly won't be popping up at Carrow Road.

The five individuals who I believe are realistic contenders are, in turn, Mike Newell, Steve Tilson, Martin Allen, Mark Bowen and Martin Hunter. The first three are the kinds of individuals your correspondent would like to see the board focus its attention on: all are ambitious, hungry, up-and-coming young managers who would view Norwich as a clear step up. Success at Carrow Road would leave their reputations enhanced, and the prospect of a Premiership club coming in for them all the more likely: it would, in other words, be a win-win situation. Newell has done a marvellous job at Luton, taking over after an absolutely shambolic close season, in which the popular Joe Kinnear had been dismissed, and only receiving the job after a bizarre contest by telephone vote; yet he led the Hatters to the League One title within just two years, and has safely established them in the Championship, playing some exhilarating football at times (as all those privileged to watch their thrilling FA Cup encounter with Liverpool last season would surely concur with).

But if anything, Tilson has done even better. Following their collapse back into English football's bottom tier in the late 1990s, Southend had endured nothing but stagnation and mediocrity, barely even achieving a single top-half finish; yet astonishingly, Tilson led them first to promotion, and then immediately (with many observers tipping them for relegation), to the League One championship. Things have started to look more difficult for his side over the last couple of games - but if he kept them up, it would arguably be even more remarkable than what he has already accomplished at Roots Hall. Like Newell, though, it is hard to see how he can take his team much further: making him amenable to offers from bigger clubs higher up the ladder.

Allen is an engaging, passionate, popular character who led Brentford to back-to-back appearances in the League One play-offs, and a memorable FA Cup run too. Indeed, it was this Cup run which ultimately ruined the Bees' chances of promotion last season: thanks to his brilliant display against Sunderland, striker DJ Campbell was snapped up by Birmingham, and his former club never recovered. Brentford have always been a club struggling for resources, and likely to sell their best players: with this likely to continue, Allen surprisingly left in the summer for a club a division lower, but with considerably more money to spend: MK Dons, who are already in contention, and surely, if Allen stays, will (to the dismay of all right-thinking football fans everywhere) come straight back up.

That leaves two figures with credentials as coaches, but not yet as managers. Bowen is a Canaries legend: a wonderfully combative and talented left back who famously scored our second goal on what remains the greatest night in the club's history: the 2-1 victory away to Bayern Munich in October 1993. Bowen has coaching experience at both Birmingham and Blackburn - and it is noticeable how Blues' fortunes suddenly deteriorated, and Rovers' improved, as he moved from one to the other. A fans' favourite, he would be a highly popular appointment - but as Brian Kidd among many others have proved, being a great coach does not necessarily make you a great manager. Without proven experience as a number one, it is impossible to escape the conclusion that giving him the job would represent a huge gamble.

And much the same could be said of Hunter: the former England under-19s coach, whose appointment in the summer was almost universally credited with transforming our style of play, and - very briefly - our results too. As caretaker manager following Worthington's departure, Hunter is the man in possession, with a chance to stake his claim for the job - but barring a dramatic resurgence in the team, it has to be said that giving him the position on a permanent basis would be the easy option: just as both Worthington and Bryan Hamilton's appointments after periods in the caretaker's role were before him. Of course, if we suddenly embark on a run of victories, it will be difficult for the club to stand in his way - but he must prove he has what it takes, before the club takes, I can only repeat, a gamble it can scarcely afford.

So this observer leans towards any of Newell, Tilson or Allen - with Newell being my slight personal favourite. That said, of course, it would be just like Norwich City if - taking the easy way out - either Hunter or Bowen get the job instead. There is, though, one other man who may yet appear under the radar: rumours circling tonight suggest that Paul Sturrock was at today's game. Like all gossip and tittle-tattle, there may well be nothing in it - but Sturrock, who boasts an excellent record with St Johnstone and Plymouth, and has done marvellously well at Sheffield Wednesday to end their frightening spiral of decline, take them back into the Championship and keep them there in a total absence of money to spend, would be an excellent appointment.

He was outrageously treated during his brief spell at Southampton, and may well have concluded that his only hope of getting another crack at managing in the Premiership will be through taking his own club there. And while Wednesday are unquestionably a big club with a proud tradition, their lack of resources is already making it difficult to envisage how Sturrock can turn them from relegation battlers into promotion contenders; Norwich, on the other hand, boast a good if rather thin squad of players, recent experience of playing in the top flight, and at least some of our final year of parachute payments to invest too. And if Owls fans were upset at losing Sturrock, they'd probably be delighted were Worthington - a favourite son of theirs - to return to Hillsborough, and replace him.

Again, I repeat: this is only a rumour. But a Sturrock/Worthington swap would make a lot of sense - and certainly keep this fan happy, at the very least. We can only wait and see as to what unfolds over the forthcoming days and weeks - but (your correspondent cringes as he shows immediate and disturbing signs of developing the very worst traits of your standard attention-seeking journalist), if it happens, remember: you read it here first!