Briers would be a gamble but is highly thought of wherever he has coached. Having said that the assistant role is always easier than the head coachs role so who knows. If we won`t pay the asking price for Rowley and Arthur is looking for a deal closer home than Briers for me is the 3rd choice on the rank. I`m not too convinced about Demiterou personally.
It seems a lot longer, but it's less than two weeks since Smith left, isn't it? Week 1 - Indentify and interview obvious candidates. Week 2 - Interview wider candidates. Week 3 - Make decision and announce. I'd say we are still on schedule and despite a couple of purely speculative pieces in the RL media, Rowley and Arthur are still firm favourites.