Crystal Palace are set to turn to Roy Hodgson after axing Frank De Boer, with former boss Sam Allardyce deciding against a return to his former club.
De Boer oversaw Palace’s fourth straight loss on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at Burnley to leave them pointless.
Palace chairman ad co-owner Steve Parish had been considering De Boer’s position over the transfer window and it is understood he was giving him the game at Turf Moor to turn things around – but now he has decided to end his time in charge.
Parish have been looking at options and Hodgson is a manager Parish has long been a fan of, and has spoken to him previously.
London-based Hodgson – who began his playing career with Palace – has not been in management since England’s disastrous Euro 2016, but he is the first option after Allardyce rejected the chance to return.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche is another being considered having been on Palace’s radar in the summer, but Hodgson is first choice.
Allaryce reiterated to PaddyPower news, where he is an ambassador, that he would reject a move back into club management.
“I’m only interested in an international job – I don’t want to jump back into the pressure of the Premier League,” he said.
“I’m enjoying the time with my family taking trips we couldn’t do before – we went to Hawaii recently, which would’ve been impossible previously as a manager with only a few weeks off in the summer.”
Bookmakers across the board believe Hodgson is the firm favourite to replace De Boer – and he is odds-on.
PaddyPower make him 1/7, Dyche is 7/1 and Allardyce is as big as 14/1.
“Let’s be Frank, it was inevitable De Boer was going to get de sack when the rumours started to circulate during the international break,” said Paddy Power.
“I’m sure Palace will be more patient with their next boss – after all, it’s not like they’ve got United, City and Chelsea in their first four fixtures.”