STEVE Cotterill now heads the list of managers vying to take charge of Burnley.

Cotterill was due to be interviewed for the second time this weekend as one of the men on Barry Kilby's top secret shortlist.

I can reveal that the former Cheltenham and Stoke boss impressed Kilby enough to warrant closer scrutiny along with assistant Bolton boss Phil Brown, who is also believed to be in the frame.

Both men have emerged as the main targets following the news that the man thought to be firm favourite, Rotherham manager Ronnie Moore, dropped out of the race this weekend.

The much-mooted £150,000 compensation clause in Moore's contract may have finally proved enough to dissuade Kilby from making further progress down the road of trying to lure Moore from the Clarets' First Division rivals.

And with Burnley closing in on their man, the contrasts between the remaining two men now sitting atop Kilby's shortlist could not be more in terms of managerial experience.

Cotterill, who began his managerial career at Sligo Rovers, later played for, then took charge of Cheltenham, where he became the most successful manager in their history by winning promotion from the Dr Martens League, following up a Nationwide Conference runners-up spot with the title in 1999 and guiding The Robins into Division Two by 2002.

After five years in charge, in May 2002, he took over at Stoke before resigning his post after just 13 games to become Howard Wilkinson's assistant at Sunderland.

That ambitious venture ended in bitter disappointment after just five months, with The Black Cats propping up the Premiership table and set for a return to Division One.

Brown, in contrast, has just five games as a manager behind him before putting his coaching skills to good use at Bolton.

He took over as caretaker at Wanderers following the sacking of Colin Todd in September 1999, but lost out to Sam Allardyce, who duly appointed Brown as his assistant.

Since then, the duo's expertise has carried Bolton into the top flight, where they are known firmly established.

However, Brown is keen to spread his wings in management and has Allardyce's blessing to move on if the right opportunity should arise.

Burnley hope to name their new manager by the middle of this week.