Pete the Kitman had been backed by this newspaper to take the top job at Norwich City – days before Manning was given his marching orders on Saturday after a record-breaking eighth home defeat this season.

Paddy Power even calculated odds for Pete Dye taking his place in the first team dugout.

Pete Dye (pictured on the right) has turned down the chance to manage Norwich City (Image: Newsquest)

But the club has now confirmed that Pete will not take over as the Canaries head coach.

Pete was once described as a “machine” by former manager David Wagner and gave a team talk when Jack Wilshere was in charge last season.

READ MORE: Ex-Norwich players tipped to succeed Liam Manning at Norwich

“When you talk about unity, you look at people in this club, and this club is full of good people, and someone like Pete, who’s been there, he really cares, like this is his life,” Wilshere said.

With Pete out of the running, former City players Gary O’Neil and Russell Martin are the bookies’ favourites to get the job.

Gary O’Neil is in the running for a return to Carrow Road (Image: PA)

O’Neil was most recently in charge at Wolves before being sacked at the end of last year.

Martin was the manager at Rangers, but that ended disastrously after the team won just five games out of 17 in Scotland.

Former Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers and Norwich City favourite Daniel Farke, who is still at Leeds, also feature highly on the list.