Nigel Pearson will be named as Leicester's manager today after chairman Milan Mandaric decided to go with his intial choice despite a late bid by former Aston Villa manager John Gregory.
The former Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough skipper was considered unlucky to be sacked by Southampton despite stepping in late to rescue the Hampshire club from relegation to League One.
Pearson, 44, will be handed one brief by demanding owner Mandaric - to restore Leicester to the Championship after the disastrous relegation that knocked the club out of the top two divisions for the first time in their 114 years.
The former West Brom and Newcastle No2 plans to recruit two right-hand men in a departure from the football norm.
He is expected to bring in Craig Shakespeare, briefly a team-mate at Sheffield Wednesday and now taking the reserves at West Brom, as Leicester's assistant manager with responsibility for coaching.
Pearson will also appoint an assistant manager to oversee recruitment in Steve Walsh — not the former Leicester player, but his namesake who was Newcastle's chief scout under Sam Allardyce after quitting Chelsea.