Francis, who was signed by Dave Sexton for £150,000 from Queens Park Rangers, made fifty league appearances for the Sky Blues, before he was given a free transfer by Bobby Gould.
A former England international, he has been out of the game as a manager or coach since 2001 untl he recent started helping Tony Pullis at Stoke City.
Francis is reported as being livid at the news leaking out by some media outlets and is likely not to want to go to St James Park for what could be a short term appointment.