O'Neill's no mug, he chooses his jobs carefully. He'll want a big budget and he'll want absolute control over the manager's role, and he won't accept a job if those two things at least aren't provided to him. If they're not, then he'll not go for it, safe in the knowledge he's built up a fair reputation to sit on. Considerable hubris, perhaps, but that's his position and I doubt he'll change.
Ancelotti? Well, signs are relatively good: he wants to manage in England, he's fairly young, and Venky's would seem like a relief after Ambramovich. However, whilst Blackburn have a reputation for pulling off big name signings, Milan to Chelsea to Blackburn seems far too big a step down to me. Doubt it.
Southgate is a possible, and I hope he gets given a chance. Quite apart from him being a damned nice bloke, he did pretty well with Middlesbrough: 12th place, 8th place, and then a shock relegation. Then, he's sacked in the Championship when they were a point off the top, a truly bizarre decision. He'd be an interesting young choice, though whether he's available we don't know.
Curbishley is the fall-back option who has been mooted for most mid-to-low level jobs in the past three years. I like him, frankly, as his record is nothing but good: as a manager who gets the best out of his players he is excellent, turning Charlton from league fodder into Premier League stalwarts. Not only that, but look at the players he's found or brought through: Bowyer, Parker, Kiely, Bent and... er... Konchesky. Not to mention his time at West Ham, where he got a top ten finish with half his team injured.
Hughes? Hm. Possible, but unlikely in my view, and I rather hope Blackburn don't sign him up again. Hughes showed rather remarkable arrogance and disrespect in quitting Fulham: not only did he assume Villa, with a vacant manager position, would jump at the chance to sign him, but he also left in order to 'further his experiences', pretty clear code for 'I want a bigger club'. In that, he deserted a club in a disrespectful manner in order to make himself available to another club that he, in his inflated ego, believed would be falling over itself to sign him up. Whilst I was fairly pleased with the prospect of us signing him at the time, my views have rather slotted into the reported views of our chairman, Randy Lerner, at the time. In other words, we wouldn't touch someone of such disloyalty and arrogance with a six foot Heskey. Therefore, I do hope Hughes spends a little more time drifting in the wilderness, paying dues for his hubris.