Kristjaan Speakman has confirmed Sunderland are currently interviewing candidates and working through a shortlist to appoint Lee Johnson's successor.
The former Black Cats boss was dismissed following the six-goal thrashing at Bolton Wanders, with the side sat third in the League One table.
ChronicleLive understands Roy Keane remains the number one target for the role, with the prospect of a sensational return dominating the headlines in recent days.
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Grant McCann, Alex Neil, and Neil Warnock are among the other contenders linked with the position.
Speakman spoke with the club's 'Unfiltered' podcast earlier in the week to address the ongoing search for a new head coach, and took the opportunity to provide an update ahead of Sunderland's home clash with Doncaster Rovers.
The sporting director insists that despite contrasting reports over the search and Keane, the Black Cats are still working through a shortlist of candidates.
Speakman told the club's website: "The difficult thing is obviously there's a lot of speculation, you're always going to get that with a club the size of Sunderland and we have to deal with that speculation and interest.
"We wouldn't want it any other way really. Sunderland is in the spotlight, getting people talking about the club and what's going on.
"At the minute, we're just going through our process and I think we have to be respectful towards the candidates that are in the process, and be respectful to the football club and the fans by trying to make the right appointment.
"We certainly won't be rushed with that, and at the minute we are interviewing candidates naturally, fact-finding on a couple of extra people.
"You've got different people from different backgrounds and situations. We're obviously speaking to coaches directly, agents and solicitors who deal with these members of staff who hopefully want to come here.
"It's just about trying to find the right match, and what you don't want to do in these type of situations in my opinion is go on hear say and what you might perceive of someone you don't know in the game.
"What we're trying to do is balance that out with the people that we know, the people that we don't know, talk about our project and what we need now to get us promoted this season.
"From there, we can start making some decisions."
Former Sunderland defender and now matchday commentator Danny Collins then asked Speakman if there was any indication over the lengths of contract being discussed.
Speakman answered: "We'll have that specific discussion once we've got through the first part of the process.
"At the minute, we are putting together that shortlist and speaking to all of those people, looking at the pros and cons as everyone will have, sitting down with members of the board and the executive team, the owner, and making a decision on what's our next step.
"I think the great thing is everyone is really calm and patient about it. Everyone has got a lot of respect and really trust the staff here and the players.
"Naturally, having made a change, we've made the change with the view to putting someone in that space in a fairly swift period of time. It's all about getting it right.
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"There's a lot of speculation and everyone is showing you a picture of somebody here, or this person is in a local pub. It's great, isn't it?
"People want to discuss the football club, they're interested and they want to know it's been done correctly."
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