QPR next manager: Tim Sherwood, Steve Cotterill, Paul Clement and Karl Robinson on managerial shortlist

The search for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's replacement has begun, with interviews taking place on Sunday and Monday for the job at Loftus Road

Tim Sherwood (GETTY IMAGES)

Queens Park Rangers are speaking to Tim Sherwood, Karl Robinson, Steve Cotterill and Paul Clement about their vacant managerial role.

The Championship club sacked Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on Saturday and started interviewing potential replacements on Sunday, carrying on into Monday, as they try to appoint a replacement as quickly as possible.

Tim Sherwood is the favourite for the job, having nearly got it in January 2015 after Harry Redknapp resigned, only for the two parties to fail to agree a deal. He has a long-standing relationship with director of football Les Ferdinand and technical director, both of whom he worked with at Tottenham Hotspur, including during his brief spell as first team coach. Sherwood has been out of work since leaving Aston Villa just over one year ago, but is not thought to be in a rush to return to first-team management.

The second favourite for the QPR job behind Sherwood is Steve Cotterill, who has a wealth of experience in the lower leagues. Cotterill was sacked by Bristol City in January, less than a year after leading them back up into the Championship from League One. He has plenty of Championship experience, before Bristol City with Nottingham Forest and Portsmouth, and was also briefly part of Harry Redknapp’s Loftus Road coaching staff when Redknapp took QPR down from the Premier League in 2012-13.

Clement's father Dave played for QPR during the 1960s and 1970s (Getty)

QPR are also interested in Paul Clement, who has a long-standing emotional connection with the club given his father Dave’s great service as a player in the 1960s and 1970s. Paul Clement is currently assisting Carlo Ancelotti as coach at Bayern Munich, after a brief spell in the Championship as Derby County manager last season. Although he has an established record as a coach and assistant, at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, the QPR job would be only his second job as a first team manager.

Karl Robinson has only been out of work for two weeks, after the ending of his six-year stint in charge of MK Dons, but he has also been given an interview for the Loftus Road hot-seat. Robinson took MK Dons from League One up into the Championship, for the first time in their history, but they were relegated back to the third tier last season.

QPR want to take advantage of the international break and make an appointment by the middle of this week, giving the new man enough time to prepare for their next game against Norwich City on Saturday 19 November. Results under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink were poor and QPR are stuck in 17th place. But there is a hope at Loftus Road that a good appointment could propel the team into the play-off places in the second half of the season.