Former Sunderland and Brighton boss Gus Poyet and his regular assistant, Blues legend Mauricio Taricco, are reportedly the men Town will look to recruit if current manager Mick McCarthy moves on in the summer.
According to The Sun, "there is a growing belief” that McCarthy will leave Portman Road during the close season and the club hope that Taricco’s connections with Town could help secure Poyet as his successor, while Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are also said to be interested in the Uruguayan.
Poyet and Taricco are currently free agents having left AEK in Greece having taken over in October.
The 48-year-old former Chelsea and Spurs midfielder made his intention not to sign a new contract clear ahead of the Greek Cup semi-final at the weekend and was subsequently relieved of his duties by annoyed owner Dimitris Melissanidis. While with AEK Poyet and Taricco won 18 of their 28 games in charge.
Taricco, 43, joined the Blues in 1994 and went on to make 169 starts and three sub appearances, scoring seven goals before joining Tottenham for a fee of £1.775 million in 1998.
While Town’s 2015/16 hasn’t matched their play-off finish of last season there currently seems little prospect of McCarthy moving on - other than if he is offered a more attractive post elsewhere with the Blues boss also having been among those linked with Villa - having signed a new contract stretching to 2018 with an option for a further two years only three months ago.