Roy Hodgson is in talks to return as Crystal Palace manager following the sacking of Patrick Vieira.
Hodgson, 75, left Palace in the summer of 2021 after four years in charge and is now the clear front-runner to take over from Vieira, who was dismissed on Friday morning after 18 months in the job.
Palace have spoken to a number of candidates, including Adi Hutter, who was most recently head coach at German side Borussia Monchengladbach.
But Hodgson is the clear frontrunner to take over from Vieira.
Palace have already confirmed that U21s head coach Paddy McCarthy will take charge of the Eagles’ next game at Arsenal on Sunday, supported by assistant Darren Powell and goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely.
Palace chairman Steve Parish exclusively told Sky Sports News that he will not rush appointing Vieira’s successor.
Parish said: “Football is a strange game as things can very quickly start not going right. When you feel you can’t get out of a rut, unfortunately then you’ve got to change something.
“Maybe things might have changed [for the better] anyway, but I couldn’t be sure of it so I’ve made the call I have and we move forward from here.
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Sky Sports News reporter Michael Bridge takes a closer look at the numbers behind Crystal Palace’s slump in form this season and where it went wrong for Vieira at Selhurst Park
“Everybody loved Patrick, he never lost the players at all. They were still running for him but things weren’t happening. We’re just hoping now that there is some fresh impetus, a few different ideas.
“Maybe we can surprise the opposition by doing something different as we’ve got good players and have got a good squad. They followed Patrick and now they will follow Paddy [McCarthy] and Darren [Powell] to do the best for the football club.
“The mood is never bad and everyone is positive and believe we can win matches. Everyone is still positive for the game against Arsenal on Sunday. We’re not looking past Sunday. We’re not interviewing managers while we have the current set-up as that would be disrespectful.
“We want to give Paddy and Darren a clear run at it on Sunday. We’ve got our own list and that kind of thing but our focus is on facing Arsenal.”
