MARK WARBURTON, the Rangers manager, is on the shortlist to take over at Swansea City who sacked Gary Monk on Wednesday evening.

We understand that nothing will be done by the Barclays Premier League outfit until next week at the earliest because despite Monk's future having been under threat for some weeks after a bad run of results, the club are carefully considering their next move.

They have been reportedly knocked back by David Moyes and while Brendan Rodgers remains their first choice, it is unlikely the former Liverpool boss would return to the club.

However, sources close to Swansea confirmed that the 53-year-old Warburton is one of the names being considered by the Swansea board.

This has become a familiar situation over recent months, a period of time which has seen him linked with a few other jobs, most notably Fulham at the start if this month.

The Rangers manager was angered about having to repeatedly answer questions about his future and only last week firmly pledged himself to the Ibrox club. He and assistant Davie Weir even gathered the players together for a meeting when the pair told them they were going nowhere.

Rangers supporters understandably have little time for their manager constantly being linked with clubs and Warburton himself has found this side of life in Glasgow the most difficult to adjust to.

However, the unavoidable truth is that the former city trader is greatly admired by many chairmen in the Premier League and Championship, although whether any of them, Swansea included, could tempt him to go back on his word would seem, from the outside at least, most unlikely.

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins called time on the 36-year-old Monk's tenure at the Liberty Stadium after an unexpected loss of form meant one of the most attractive sides in the Premier League for the past few seasons fell to 15th in the league, a point above the relegation zone.

Jenkins said: ‘The decision has been made very reluctantly and with a heavy heart. To find ourselves in our current situation from where we were in the first week of September, and considering the drop of performance levels and run of results over the last three months, it has brought us to this unfortunate decision today.

"Garry took on the job 22 months ago with the backing of everyone at the club. And when you take into account the excellent campaign we had last season when we broke all club records in the Premier League, nobody foresaw the position we would be in at this moment in time.

"Bearing that in mind and the current uncertainty around the club, we felt the situation needed clarity to move forward.

"It was not a decision we took lightly, especially given Garry’s history and standing within the club. And it goes without saying that we wish Garry all the very best for the future and thank him for his tremendous service, not only as a player over the last decade, but also as our manager.

"He will always have a warm welcome at this football club. We hope to appoint a replacement as soon as possible."