An update has come to light on Roy Hodgson and his precarious future at Crystal Palace, with the Eagles now also making contact with a potential replacement who was seriously praised last season.
Hodgson in real danger of sack amid poor Palace season
Palace now find themselves just four points above the Premier League relegation zone and face dropping to the Championship for the first time since their promotion around 10 years ago.
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Hodgson's side have been lacklustre in many departments, with only Burnley and Sheffield United, the league's bottom two teams, scoring fewer goals than Palace so far this campaign.
Nathaniel Clyne
6.37
Chris Richards
6.41
Sam Johnstone
6.44
Will Hughes
6.47
Joel Ward
6.48
They haven't exactly been helped by injuries to key players, like winger Michael Olise, who is facing at least two months on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury (Sami Mokbel).
Eberechi Eze will also be out for a few weeks with his own muscle problem, while defender Marc Guehi is set for a leave of absence as well. Things are looking very grim for Palace, who next take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday.
Hodgson is under mounting pressure at Selhurst Park, as reports suggest club chairman Steve Parish wants to replace the ex-England boss and is actively looking for replacements (Graeme Bailey).
One candidate who's been widely mentioned by various sections of the media is former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper. The Welshman, who steered his former club to safety last term, was given his P45 earlier this season and is readily available for hire.
Palace make Hodgson sack decision as contact made with Cooper
Sharing an update on Palace's managerial situation, Football Insider journalist Wayne Veysey has the latest on this. He claims Palace want to sack Hodgson have made an approach for Cooper, but there is some bad news for Parish, as their preferred candidate would rather wait until the summer before making a decision.
The 44-year-old is said to want a full pre-season to grow accustomed to life at Palace and feel out his squad, but the south Londoners are aiming to succeed Hodgson with "immediate effect".
It remains to be seen if they can sway Cooper into changing his mind, but going by previous comments from Sam Allardyce, it could well be worth a try. Indeed, Allardyce even praised him doing the "best job" in the league last season by helping Forest to avoid the drop.
“If Nottingham Forest survive relegation, Steve Cooper has definitely done the best job of all the managers in the Premier League this season," said the ex-top flight coach last year (No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast via Forest News).
"What becomes difficult in terms of building team spirit is having too many players. Most managers don’t have enough. What they don’t have enough of is quality, and what they don’t want is quantity. Steve is one of the only managers to say he has too many players. Dealing with that can distract your focus. You want to keep them all involved and use them if you can and see what they’ve got, but ultimately, it’s a very tough decision. Steve has done an incredible job dealing with these issues as well as getting good results."