Roy Hodgson is the shock favourite to be the next Crystal Palace boss – just two years after leaving
Roy Hodgson is the shock favourite to be the next Crystal Palace boss – just two years after leaving – with Rafa Benitez and Ralph Hasenhuttl also hotly tipped to take over from sacked Patrick Vieira
Roy Hodgson has emerged as the favourite to become the next permanent Crystal Palace manager, in a possible return for the former fan favourite.
On Friday morning, the south-east London club announced the departure of Patrick Vieira as first-team manager at Selhurst Park, alongside the exit of some of his backroom staff.
A statement issued by the Eagles stated the ‘process to appoint a new manager is underway’.
And Paddy Power has listed 75-year-old Hodgson as favourite to return to the dugout at Selhurst Park.
Hodgson was in charge of the Eagles between 2017 and 2021, when he announced he was leaving the club in May of that year.
Roy Hodgson could make a return to the Selhurst Park dugout after leaving the club in 2021
Rafa Benitez is another frontrunner in the betting for the newly vacant Crystal Palace job
Patrick Vieira was fired by the Eagles after failing to win any of their 12 matches in 2023
After briefly stepping away from football manager, Hodgson became Watford manager in January 2022, as the Bees were relegated from the Premier League.
Other names heavily linked to the newly-vacant role include Lucien Favre, who was most recently in charge of Ligue 1 Nice, and former Liverpool, Newcastle and Everton Rafa Benitez.
Benitez has extensive experience with the Premier League, and previously said that he was looking for a long-term project to build in his next role.
Jesse Marsch, the former Leeds boss, is third favourite at 9/1.
Other names prominently linked to the vacant role include former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and ex-Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
Hasenhuttl is one of several names touted who has already helmed a Premier League side, alongside Marcelo Bielsa, who was previously at Leeds, Frank Lampard after his time at Everton, and ex-Aston Villa man Steven Gerrard.
Other possibilities include those currently working at other clubs, including the Championship trio of Carlos Corberan (West Bromwich Albion), Michael Carrick (Middlesbrough) and Vincent Kompany (Burnley), and Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.
Currently unemployed options potentially open to the Crystal Palace role include Mauricio Pochettino, Sam Allardyce and Thomas Tuchel.
Crystal Palace travel to top-of-the-table Arsenal on Sunday, before the international break.
April sees the Eagles host Leicester City, Everton and West Ham, alongside trips to Leeds, Southampton and Wolves.
The Eagles currently sit in 12th place in the Premier League, just three points clear of the bottom three.