With Steve Bruce, Chris Coleman and Gary Megson all dismissing the opportunity of becoming the next Bolton manager to replace Sammy Lee, the Trotters find themselves in a difficult position where their choice of next manager is extremely slim. Such is the dire state of quality managers in England.

With Bruce, Coleman and Megson out of the running, here’s EPL Talk’s analysis of what candidates are available and may be a good fit for the Bolton Wanderers manager position:

1. Paul Jewell. The former Wigan Athletic manager has been taking off from management after a stressful season keeping the Latics up last season. He’s the type of manager who could keep Bolton up, but would he even want to put himself through another difficult season?

2. Peter Taylor. Despite being recently sacked by Crystal Palace, Taylor is well respected within the game especially after his stint as England under-21 manager where he built a team that has been more exciting and unpredictable to watch than the senior England national team.

3. John Collins. The highly rated manager of Hibernian has only been a manager for one year, but has impressed fans and critics by winning the Scottish League Cup and taking Hibs to sixth place in the Scottish Premier League (SPL).

4. Adrian Boothroyd. While Adi Boothroyd had a difficult time last season in the Premiership keeping his club up, albeit with limited budgets, the Hornets are now in top place in the Championship. If Bolton could woo Boothroyd away from Watford, that would be a huge coup, but don’t count on it.

5. Steve Clarke. Whether Steve Clarke will be a permanent fixture on the Chelsea bench is unclear. If there was an opportunity to pluck Clarke away from Chelsea, a team like Bolton would be a perfect opportunity for the Scot to dig in and sort the team out.

6. Bryan Robson. His career as a player for England and Manchester United has been legendary. His performances as a manager, however, have been poor (with Middlesbrough being a rare exception as well as the season where he kept West Brom up). With his current club Sheffield United sitting fifth from bottom in the Championship, the Blades may be open to Robson leaving the steel town.

7. Glenn Roeder. The former Newcastle United and West Ham United manager has been out of work since May after resigning at St. James’s Park, but the manager has recently been linked with a director of football position (or in a similar capacity) at Arsenal.

8. John Gregory. Sacked by Queens Park Rangers just two weeks ago, the manager is perhaps best known for his four years as the gaffer at Aston Villa. He’s a longshot, but has management experience (and a poor track record) at six clubs.

9. Glenn Hoddle. The former England manager hasn’t been in charge of a Premiership club since 2003 when he left his post at Tottenham Hotspur. After a disappointing 18 months at Wolverhampton Wanderers — where it seemed all he could do for the club is make them draw matches instead of winning them — he’s been away from management working for Sky Sports.

10. Graeme Souness. It seems ages since Souness left Newcastle as manager there, but it’s only been 18 months. The former Newcastle and Blackburn manager could give Bolton the rough treatment to get them playing better, but it’s questionable whether Souness’s career as a manager may be over.

11. David O’Leary. The former Leeds and Aston Villa manager has reportedly expressed interest in the Bolton position and would be eager for a return to management.

If you were Bolton chairman Phil Gartside, which manager would you choose to succeed Sammy Lee?