Sven-Goran Eriksson is the headline name on a list of potential managers being considered and reportedly approached by Hartlepool United.

Reports in Sweden surfaced last night that the former England head coach has been sounded out by the club following the departure of manager Neale Cooper last week.

"We'll see what happens, I have not heard anything more about this,'' Eriksson said following the initial move.

Micky Barron is in caretaker charge . He steered Pools to a 2-2 draw at Brentford last weekend and is likely to be command for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Chesterfield.

The report, which claimed Eriksson is strongly interested in the role at Victoria Park, appeared in Swedish national newspaper Expressen, for who the well-travelled 64-year-old is a regular columnist.

Earlier this year they announced the Swede was to spent a short spell in Thailand as technical director and consultant at BEC Tero Sasana, who have lost only once since his September arrival.

Pools owners IOR Ltd have strong Scandinavian links, through parent company Larsen Oil and Gas who are based in Norway.

However, the chances of anything happening between Eriksson and Pools are minimal at best.

Bookies, who have Middlesbrough academy coach Colin Cooper at 2/1 favourite for the job, weren't offering a price on Eriksson - who Pools striker Steve Howard played under at Leicester in the 2010-11 season - last night.

At the weekend, betting was suspended after a number of wagers were placed on Brian Laws to take over. He was yesterday appointed Scunthorpe boss after Alan Knill was sacked, but later claimed he had spoken with Pools officials.

Victoria Park chairman Ken Hodcroft will oversee any interview process and sounding out potential candidates goes against previous strict appointment processes.

IOR have made five external permanent appointments since taking control in 1997 - Chris Turner, Mike Newell, Cooper (twice) and Danny Wilson - and their other managers have come from within the club.

They are always keen to offer opportunities to their coaching staff and Barron moved right into contention after a solid introduction at Brentford.

"I've got a job and I'm happy with it. We will just have to wait and see what happens,'' he insisted when quizzed about his managerial ambitions.

Barron has one eye on the weekend trip to Chesterfield, where his former boss Turner is now the Spireites' chief executive.

"The FA Cup is important, a good run would be massive for the fans, staff and everyone,'' he said.

"Get some momentum in the cup. And this point at Brentford gives us something to build on and means everyone came in on Monday with a bit of a smile on their face.

"The Cup game is a nice distraction from our League duties and it can suit us I really do believe that, a nice ground and nice pitch and hopefully a good support.''

Barron made sure his players grouped together to applaud the travelling fans at Griffin Park at the weekend and was quick to thank the supporters for their patience in a poor run of form.

"The fans were great and gave us a good reception,'' he said.

"To be fair, the majority of them have been terrific in getting behind us when it hasn't been going well and it was nice to give them something to cheer.

"We wanted to say a big thank you to them at the end and we did that, it was something we wanted to do if we did well.''