Former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre has got Steve Parish’s seal of approval with the Crystal Palace chairman an admirer of the coach’s attacking style, as reported by the Guardian.
While Paulo Fonseca, Nuno Espirito Santo and Steve Cooper are still available with just a few weeks remaining before pre-season training gets underway, it seems there is a new name at the top of Crystal Palace’s managerial wish list these days.
63-year-old Favre has never worked in the Premier League.
But, after impressive spells in France and Germany, the softly-spoken Swiss is keen to do just that.
What’s more, Favre ticks two major boxes as far as Parish is concerned.
The Palace chairman is an admirer of a man who coaxed the very best out of the mercurial Mario Balotelli at Nice, with Favre’s reputation for exciting, forward-thinking football and his passion for blooding young talent making him the new frontrunner for the Selhurst Park job.
Is Lucien Favre the right man for Crystal Palace?
Favre may not have won over every member of Dortmund’s infamous yellow wall – many at the Signal Iduna Park are still pining for Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal football – but his measured, possession-heavy approach nearly reaped dividends in 2019.
Dortmund finished second in the Bundesliga table that season, just two points behind champions Bayern Munich while scoring an average of 2.4 goals per game.
His Monchengladbach side also took German football by storm, thrilling supporters and neutrals alike with a swashbuckling style which transformed Die Fohlen into one of the country’s most watchable sides.
If Favre can make a similarly transformative impact at Crystal Palace – a club who aren’t exactly renowned for offering much in the way of excitement – then it won’t just be Parish singing his praises.
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