Crystal Palace are targeting a former Bundesliga manager
Pressure is mounting on Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson and the Eagles are preparing for life without the Englishman, with two top candidates for the job emerging.
Hodgson raised eyebrows in March 2023 when he returned as Crystal Palace manager, just under two years since he left the club and was replaced by Patrick Vieira. The 76-year-old helped to get the best out of the Eagles’ top players in the second half of last season and they went on to finish in 11th place.
However, things have not gone as well for Hodgson and Palace this term. They have won just two Premier League matches since November 4. In their last four games – three of which have ended in defeat – Palace have conceded 14 goals.
The 3-1 home loss to Chelsea on Monday night took Hodgson one step closer to being sacked.
According to The Telegraph, the former Liverpool and England boss is under threat as Palace chiefs are starting to eye up managerial replacements.
One option is Oliver Glasner, the 49-year-old Austrian who helped Eintracht Frankfurt win the Europa League in 2022.
Glasner left Frankfurt at the end of last season and has remained a free agent ever since. He has previously been linked with the Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea jobs, but now it is Palace weighing up whether to begin negotiations with his agent.
Glasner is not the only impressive coach under consideration. Another target is Kieran McKenna, who has worked wonders as Ipswich Town. He helped the club gain promotion back to the Championship last term, and they could incredibly achieve back-to-back promotions.
Crystal Palace eyeing two managers
Ipswich currently sit in fourth spot, six points behind second-placed Leeds United with two games in hand.
While McKenna does not have experience managing in the Premier League, Palace feel he has the potential to help them build a successful long-term project and crack the top 10 on an annual basis.
McKenna knows what it is like to work at a major club, too. He was a coach at Tottenham and Man Utd before opting to pursue his own career as a manager by joining Ipswich in December 2021.
It must be noted that The Guardian claim McKenna will not be swapping Ipswich for Palace in the coming weeks, as he wants to remain at Portman Road at least until the end of the season.
Although, Palace hope to convince him to change his mind come the summer, should they still be in the market for a new manager then.
On Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, pundit Jamie Carragher gave his verdict on the South London outfit.
“It feels like the club is happy to almost be like that mid-table club, they always get between 41 and 49 points every season,” he said.
“But the fact that they brought Roy Hodgson in, I think, for the third time if you like. So he came in at the end of last season, he did a great job and the fact that they’ve kept a manager that they moved on two or three years ago.
“They’re looking at Brighton bringing [Roberto] De Zerbi in, they’re looking at Bournemouth bringing [Andoni] Iraola in, you look at [Julen] Lopetegui coming in at Wolves, that shows a club is looking to the future, they’ve got a vision so I can understand the frustration to go back to a manager in his mid-70s… I get where that frustration comes from because it seems like they’re just happy to sit where they are.”
