STEPPING into Graeme Souness's shoes as manager of Blackburn Rovers will be a daunting task -- not least because the Scot is among the best dressed managers around.

Tracksuit bosses are a dying breed as foreign coaches, like new Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, bring their own tailored suit chic to the Premiership.

And lifelong Blackburn Rovers fan and fashion designer Wayne Hemingway said managers were more likely to succeed when they were well dressed away from the training ground.

No longer are most managers satisfied with a Brian Clough-style green pullover or tracksuit bottoms with football socks pulled over them.

Souness is one of the sharpest dressed football managers in the game - hardly ever seen on match days without a cutting black suit or dapper overcoat.

Wayne, founder of the Red or Dead fashion label, said: "I actually like Graeme's suits. I don't know where he gets them but they are very smart.

"I personally prefer a manager who wears a suit, probably because I like dressing smartly myself but I also think it shows a bit more discipline.

"I think a manager should do more than just be a coach. You see managers in tracksuits and you think that the football side of it is all they think about.

"It probably is the managers who do more than just coach who are the more successful. They show themselves to be the boss.

"The very word manager suggests some kind of decorum in terms of the way they dress.

However, Wayne, who grew up in Blackburn and is an avid Rovers fan, despite being based in London, believes as long as whoever takes over at Ewood can start winning games they will be very welcome - no matter what they wear.

"At the minute I think a lot of Rovers fans, myself included, just want a manager who will do well at the club. He could look like Rab C Nesbitt in a string vest but if he did well nobody would care."

Below, Wayne gives his views on possible successors, along with bookies' odds:

GORDON STRACHAN (Former Scottish international and Southampton manager) 5/1: "HE has started wearing a suit more recently but has not not quite got the shape of Souness, who could always carry a well tailored suit. He would need more of a creative tailor. He would not be a bad choice for manager."

MARK HUGHES 6/1 (Helped Rovers to Worthington Cup glory before becoming Wales manager): "HE is a smart manager but not quite as dapper in a suit as Mr Souness. He would be a fantastic manager for the Rovers but I can't see him leaving the Wales job."

CHRIS COLEMAN (Former Rovers centre half who now manages Fulham) n/a: "CHRIS always looks very smart but it has always been more of a flamboyant smart. He is more in touch with his feminine side in the way he dresses. Not a bad football manager but not experienced enough yet I don't think."

ALAN SHEARER (Needs no introduction!) 33/1: "Another smart dresser. When ever you see him on television he is always wearing a smart suit. It would be a dream come true if he came back to the club but I think everyone who is realistic knows that will not happen."