Canaries keeping quiet on manager

The Carrow Road managerial vacancy might be the most talked about subject among fans and pundits alike - but Norwich City are refusing to comment on any aspect of the current situation.

Speculation is rife that Mark Bowen is set to come back to the club he served so well as a player to take over the job vacated by Nigel Worthington on Sunday.

But while no one expects City officials to reveal the names of those interested in taking over the hot seat, the club are refusing to answer any questions relating to the job.

Chief executive Neil Doncaster declined to say yesterday how many applications had been received, if there was a deadline, whether interviews had started - nothing, in fact, that will hinder the search for a new manager.

While Bowen is the bookies favourite, his current club, Blackburn Rovers, where he is assistant to Mark Hughes, are taking a similar stance to the Canaries.

Bowen has yet to comment on the situation - and Rovers chairman John Williams response was a simple “no comment”.

Ex-Doncaster boss Dave Penney, who is rated as an outsider for the City job by bookmakers, threw his hat into the ring for the Carrow Road hotseat.

The 42-year-old left Rovers in August after four-and-a-half years in charge where he lead them from the Conference to League One and their highest league finishing position in 50 years last season.

His side also knocked Aston Villa and Manchester City out of the Carling cup and were minutes away from defeating Arsenal too. But now he says he wants to return to management.

“I've had a couple of enquiries and a couple of interviews but nothing sorted as yet,” he told BBC Sport.

Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez is another to be linked with a move to Norfolk, although he hinted yesterday that he may stay on in his current role.

Sanchez has indicated before that he is likely to step down after the current Euro 2008 campaign but yesterday he didn't rule out the possibility of staying on into the next World Cup qualifiers.