Swansea Get Permission To Talk To Speed

Sheffield United have given Swansea City permission to speak to Gary Speed about the vacant manager's job.

The former Wales international and current player coach at the Blades looks set to have talks with Huw Jenkins about the possiblity of replacing Roberto Martinez as our new boss.

The 39 year-old is on a shortlist as Huw Jenkins has narrowed down more than 100 applications to a 'top 10' list.

Chairman Huw Jenkins is keen to appoint Martinez's replacement as quickly as possible and Speed will have talks with the Swans, along with other candidates.

Graeme Jones has been strongly linked with moving from assistant to manager but Jenkins believes he'll join Martinez at Wigan Athletic.

Other names being linked are Aidy Boothroyd, Paul Tisdale and Gary Ablett.

Speed made 840 appearances in his career and scored 134 goals, playing for Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers. He also won 85 caps with Wales.

Huw Jenkins told BBC Sport:

'I would love to get things sorted as quickly as I can,'

'There's a lot of wide-ranging applications and, to be fair, this is going to be the hardest decision I'm going to have to make and the board have to make.

'The level of contenders has greatly got better over the last seven years but, to be honest, we don't want to be in this position of looking for managers every two or three years.

'We are looking for the right person to stay with us and develop the club over a period.'

In our site poll, Gary Speed is now the fans' favourite for the hotseat with 52% of the vote, followed by Graeme Jones 34%.

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