WHAT now for Sunderland? That's the obvious question after yet another twist and another candidate seemingly ruled out.

Liam Rosenior had emerged as a frontrunner for the vacancy at the Stadium of Light but any chances of him becoming the next boss of the Black Cats look to have now disappeared.

He features prominently in the thoughts of Burnley's bosses and is holding out in the hope he gets the gig at Turf Moor. Sunderland can't afford to wait. After Kyril Louis-Dreyfus last week told of how he hoped an appointment was "imminent", there's a desire to end this long and drawn-out search for a new head coach as soon as possible.

But right now there are no clear favourites. So who is still in contention?

Marti Cifuentes

Marti Cifuentes is not a new candidate having featured on Sunderland's shortlist since very early in the process.

But there's also been one major problem that still remains - he's in charge of QPR.

That would not only make any pursuit of the Spaniard costly - though the exact compensation that would be required is not known - it would also likely make for a drawn-out process and, with Sunderland's players due back for pre-season later this month, time is no longer on the side of the decision makers on Wearside.

It's no surprise Cifuentes is admired by Sunderland's hierarchy. He did a superb job at QPR last term. When he took charge in October, Rangers were second bottom and had won just two of 14 games. They ended up safe and finished level on points with Sunderland.

Rene Maric

Another longstanding candidate but another major obstacle. Before Vincent Kompany surprisingly landed the Bayern Munich job, Sunderland might well have fancied their chances of luring Maric to the Stadium of Light.

But Kompany and Maric did their coaching badges together and there's been an expectation since the Bundesliga giants appointed the former Burnley boss that Maric would step up from being Under-19s head coach to join the first team coaching staff.

There's not yet been any confirmation of the make-up of Kompany's team but Maric is still widely expected to be part of it.

Unnamed candidates

There are, the Northern Echo understands, a couple of head coach candidates who have long been in contention but have been kept under wraps.

Now the obvious response to that at this stage would be to ask that if they were really fancied by Sunderland bosses, wouldn't they have been appointed by now?

The Black Cats are now in a position where they must hope that candidates being aware that they weren't first choice targets doesn't act as a deterrent. After the high-profile Will Still snub and this latest Liam Rosenior twist, Sunderland sources were keen to stress that the Black Cats weren't going back to square one in their search for a new boss and that talks with candidates other than Rosenior have taken place very recently.

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Paul Heckingbottom

Heckingbottom was strongly linked with Sunderland soon after Michael Beale's exit in February and very early talks are understood to have taken place. Given, however, the former Sheffield United boss has been out of work throughout the entirety of Sunderland's search for a new boss, again it's worth stressing that if the Black Cats had been sold on the idea of appointing the 46-year-old, he'd surely be in place by now.

Heckingbottom was said to have held talks with Plymouth earlier this summer before they moved for Wayne Rooney.

Gerhard Struber

The bookmakers' odds on the former Barnsley boss have started to creep in over the course of the last couple of days.

The 47-year-old is seven years in to his managerial career but it was his move to Oakwell in 2019 that really enhanced his reputation. In the November of the 2019/20 season, Struber took charge of a Barnsley side that was bottom of the table and without a win in their last 15 games, but somehow led the Tykes to a remarkable escape.

He left for New York Red Bulls and then moved to Red Bull Salzburg, who he was managing in the Champions League at the start of last season. But he was sacked in March and has been out of work since.

Frank Lampard

Lampard has been strongly linked with the Burnley job since Vincent Kompany's exit and remains favourite with the bookies, though the latest Liam Rosenior developments could soon change that.

The former England midfielder has been out of work since a poor stint at Chelsea at the end of the 2022/23 season. That followed an underwhelming spell as Everton boss. For all Lampard enjoyed an exceptional playing career, there are serious question marks about his qualities as a head coach.

Mike Dodds

There has been no indication whatsoever that Mike Dodds has been considered for the permanent role this summer, but what happens if pre-season gets underway and a head coach is still not in place? Would he lead the side again, be it temporarily?

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman are known to think extremely well of Dodds, who has made clear he wants to become a full-time head coach in the future, but Sunderland's form in the second half of the season and the mood in the stands means there's surely no chance that the 38-year-old gets the job full-time.

Anyone else?

Stockport boss Dave Challinor and St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson remain relatively short price with the bookies, despite it being made clear that the pair don't feature in Sunderland's thinking.

Pascal Jansen was ruled out at the weekend as well and now looks likely to take charge of Ferencvaros.

For the sake of throwing in a couple of unlikely curveballs, Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips is available after leaving Hartlepool earlier this summer and Jermain Defoe has made clear his interest in taking charge at the Stadium of Light.