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Former Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson is a “strong contender” to return to the club following the decision to sack Patrick Vieira.
Vieira was sacked on Friday morning with 12th-placed Crystal Palace just three points clear of the relegation zone.
The Eagles haven’t won in the Premier League since New Years. They have drawn five and lost six since their last win, against AFC Bournemouth.
Crystal Palace take on Arsenal this weekend. This is their last match before the international break.
It was later reported that Palace under-21 manager Paddy McCarthy will have “the chance to lead the club to Premier League safety” following Vieira’s sacking.
Reports indicated that McCarthy “could get the interim job through the end of the season if he impresses.”
Crystal Palace they’re looking for alternative options, though. David Ornstein of the Athletic is reporting that Hodgson is a “strong contender” for the vacant manager post.
Hodgson had previously spent four years as Palace manager. He left the club ahead of the 2021/22 season.
The 75-year-old “will take charge of the relegation-risk club until the end of the season” e this would be “considered a surprise return”.
The report adds: ‘Other candidates will also be evaluated as the situation is assessed by the Palace hierarchy in the coming days.’
A separate report from Sky Sports claims Hodgson is “in talks to return” to Crystal Palace.
Palace ‘talked to a number of candidates, including Adi Hutter (former Borussia Monchengladbach boss)’ but Hodgson is the “clear favourite”.
This was stated by Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish Sky Sports that they are “looking no further than” this weekend’s match against Arsenal.
“Football is a strange game because things can start going wrong very quickly. When you feel like you can’t get out of a rut, unfortunately then you have to change something,” Parish said.
“Maybe things could have changed [for the better] anyway, but i couldn’t be sure, so i made the call i have and let’s move on from here.
“Everyone loved Patrick, he never lost players. They were still running for him but things weren’t happening. Let’s just hope now that there’s some new momentum, some different ideas.
“Maybe we can surprise the opposition by doing something different as we have good players and a good squad. They followed Patrick and now they will follow Paddy [McCarthy] and Darren [Powell] do the best for the soccer team.
“The mood is never bad and everyone is positive and believes we can win games. All still positive for Sunday’s match against Arsenal. We look no further than Sunday. We are not interviewing managers while we have the current setup as that would be disrespectful.
“On Sunday we want to give Paddy and Darren a clear chance to do that. We have our list and that kind of thing, but our target is to face Arsenal.
READ MORE: Patrick Vieira becomes first Premier League manager to lose his job after facing Brighton
