Crystal Palace are searching for a new manager following Sam Allardyce’s departure.
Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce
Crystal Palace are in the hunt for a new manager after announcing last month that Sam Allardyce will not only be leaving the club, but he has no intention of managing again.
The Eagles swooped to land Allardyce as their new manager in December 2016 following Alan Pardew’s departure, handing ‘Big Sam’ a return to football following his acrimonious departure from the England job in September.
Allardyce initially started slowly at Selhurst Park, but he masterminded wins over Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool to save the club from relegation, ending the season with a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.
General view of Selhurst Park
Many expected Allardyce to rebuild Palace this summer, but instead he has decided to call it quits on his time in South London, and in management altogether in a shock move.
Bookmakers are pricing up odds for who could replace Allardyce in the Palace dugout, and here are the current frontrunners, as provided by Oddschecker…
Burnley manager Sean Dyche
Sean Dyche: 8/13
Burnley boss Dyche has earned admirers for his work at Turf Moor since taking the job in 2012, winning two promotions to the Premier League on a relatively small budget. This past season, Dyche finally kept Burnley in the Premier League, but his exploits now appear to have attracted Palace’s interest. At just 8/13, Dyche is the clear odds-on favourite for the job at Selhurst Park, in what would be a major blow to Burnley.
Roy Hodgson: 5/1
Ex-England boss Hodgson may have been out of a job for almost a year now having exited after the Three Lions’ embarrassing defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016, but links to Palace have been fairly strong. A Croydon-born former Palace youth player, Hodgson would certainly have plenty of knowledge about the club heading into the job, and may fancy another crack at the Premier League. At 5/1, he’s one of the frontrunners.
Former Bayer Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt
Roger Schmidt: 7/1
An interesting suggestion, Schmidt had impressed as manager of Red Bull Salzburg and Bayer Leverkusen, but lost his job with the latter in March after an underwhelming season. The 50-year-old played a high-energy, high-pressing style at Leverkusen and could battle compatriots Jurgen Klopp and David Wagner in the Premier League if he does land the Palace job – and at 7/1, he’s a name to keep an eye on.
Mauricio Pellegrino: 7/1
Formerly Rafael Benitez’s assistant at both Liverpool and Inter Milan, Pellegrino enjoyed a superb season in charge of Alaves. Not only did the Argentinian take them to a ninth-placed finish in La Liga following promotion, but he also guided the club to the final of the Copa del Rey, only to lose out to Barcelona. Pellegrino resigned shortly after that game in order to pursue other opportunities, and he’s just 7/1 to become Palace boss.
Christophe Galtier: 16/1
A French manager regularly linked with moving to the Premier League, Galtier – a former Portsmouth assistant – spent seven and a half years in charge of Saint-Etienne before leaving this summer. The 50-year-old is now free to move on, and he has come into the reckoning for the Palace job with odds of 16/1 this evening, making him something of a dark horse for the position.
Who would you like to see Palace appoint as their new manager?
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