It's looking increasingly unlikely that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick will be asked to work together in an interim role at Manchester United for the rest of the season, Your Site News has learned.
Both former players remain at the forefront of United's plans, but it could now be a straight choice between the two, with one man asked to take charge of the first team for the final 17 Premier League matches of the campaign, and any more FA Cup games.
On assessment, it seems that United's bosses consider both Solskjaer and Carrick as a natural 'No 1'.
The club are remaining patient about the process, with any appointment now seeming unlikely before Sunday's FA Cup tie against Brighton.
Both Carrick and Solskjaer have had personal commitments this week which have delayed progress, but it's thought United's bosses are in no rush to make a final decision, and want further talks in the coming days.
They have been impressed with the current interim, Darren Fletcher, both in terms of how he has conducted himself in the media and around the Carrington training ground, and the rapport he has quickly built up with the squad - many of whom are already well known to him.
Fletcher confirmed after the 2-2 draw with Burnley that he will stay on in the role to cover the Brighton game, which has bought director of football Jason Wilcox some more time to interview other candidates.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy remains an option for the interim role, but - in contrast to Solskjaer and Carrick - he is well-known to the current Old Trafford regime, and so does not require the same level of interview scrutiny.
Your Site' Gary Neville on a potential return for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:
"They put Ryan [Giggs] in charge 10 years ago, then Ole came in charge and you go back to the old boys, then you go for a new one, then you go for more experience.
"It is almost like a cycle, like a movie we have all seen before and Groundhog Day.
"What I do think is Ole is someone who absolutely loves the club, he knows the job, he has been in the job.
"The other names that have been mentioned - Michael Carrick, Ruud van Nistelrooy - these are really fantastic people.
"I trained with those guys for a lot of years. They love the club intensely, they get the club, but still they are going to come under a lot of pressure in this next four or five months if results don't go their way and they are going to have to be ready for that.
"Whoever is going to get it out of those three who are being mentioned, I wish them all the best because it is a tough role."
As talks continue for an interim boss, among those linked with the permanent role are Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner and Newcastle's Eddie Howe.
Glasner has six months left on his deal at Selhurst Park but shut down any talk of the position during a press conference earlier this week.
"I am Crystal Palace manager. It's wasted time for you to ask any more questions. I don't talk about any other club other than Crystal Palace," he said.
Howe, meanwhile, also reiterated his commitment to Newcastle.
"I'm 100 per cent here, working as hard as I can, head down, ignoring all the stuff that you guys write, good or bad, because it's irrelevant," he said.
"It's about today's work and trying to prepare the team as well as we can for Leeds [on Wednesday], so that will never change from my perspective, my commitment to my work and my job.
"As long as I'm happy and able to express myself in the best way that I can to help the team, nothing will change."
Asked if there was anything which could tempt him away from St James' Park, Howe replied: "No, not at this current time.
"The most important thing for me is happiness in the role, happiness in the job, the relationships I have with the people around me. Now that's not always been consistently good and things can change at any football club.
"But, at the moment, I am very happy."
