Don't forget Williams, Stier -- and Curley!

More wild speculation on how the company may handle Sue Clark-Johnson's replacement -- and a possible date for an announcement. Whatever the outcome, this is a big deal, folks. It signals what likely will be the start of a long-awaited restructuring. And it's very much about the Old Guard starting to step aside.

Other contenders I didn't mention earlier:

Jack Williams, President of Gannett Digital since January 2006. The then-newly created unit oversees all U.S. Internet and digital initiatives. One possibility: GCI could -- probably should -- merge Digital and the Newspaper Division. The company is supposed to be platform agnostic, after all.

Mary Stier retired in August as head of Gannett's Midwest Newspaper Group and as publisher of the Des Moines Register. She left to launch a multimedia venture called The Brilliance Group, targeting "aspirational boomer women across the country." At the time, she told the Register she planned to start Brilliance this spring.

Tom Curley, former USA Today publisher and once, I suspect, a contender to be Gannett CEO. I wrote last month about why the board of directors should give Curley a jingle. He's now CEO of The Associated Press, but might come back if directors made him Gannett Chairman and CEO.

As to the timing, CEO Craig Dubow said today an announcement would come later. It could come in time for the Feb. 1 earnings conference call, which is suddenly shaping up to be a very interesting occasion! Already up for possible discussion: a big write-down.

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[Photos: Williams, Gannett; Stier, Register; Curley, Associated Press]