With Oliver Glasner confirmed to be leaving Crystal Palace this summer, who are the favourites to take his place in the dugout at Selhurst Park next season?
Oliver Glasner has (hopefully) eight more matches in charge of Crystal Palace before his time in south London comes to an end.
The Austrian has revolutionised the club since he arrived in 2024, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield in two of the club’s greatest ever days at Wembley, before guiding Palace to the Conference League semi-finals.
That has, at least for now, somewhat changed expectations around Selhurst Park, with fans looking for more European nights and more silverware, making whoever replaces Glasner in June’s job that much harder.
But of course, football is a fickle business and with Glasner making the decision to move on to pastures new, the Palace hierarchy and fans alike will have to move on, and fast.
And, with time ticking along until the end of the Premier League season and the Conference League in the semi-final stages, it will not be long before a decision really needs to be made.
So, who are the main candidates to take over from Glasner this summer and could they be successful?
Robbie Keane
Robbie Keane is the favourite with Sky Bet to be appointed Crystal Palace manager this summer.
The Irishman has been making waves in European football with Ferencvaros, winning the Hungarian title last year and currently locked in a title race with ETO Gyor for a second consecutive triumph.
Keane has a 60.76% win record with the Hungarian side, which follows his 73% win record at Maccabi Tel Aviv, whom he managed from June 2023 until June 2024 and won the Israeli Premier League.
Keane has thrived everywhere he has gone thus far and fans may be eager on his football style, with the former Tottenham striker playing a highly attacking and expansive style.
Concerns with the hierarchy may be the totally different formation and brand he plays, with Keane favouring keeping the ball and playing on the front foot in a 4-3-3, compared to Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 formation.
Thomas Frank
When Glasner’s departure was announced, I think most people believed that Thomas Frank was the obvious choice to take over at Selhurst Park.
The Dane is London-based and played some of the best and most effective counter-attacking football the Premier League has seen with Brentford.
Things did not work out for him when he moved to Tottenham, but they did not exactly work out for Ange Postecoglou, Igor Tudor or arguably even Roberto De Zerbi, although that is very early days.
His football was at times mesmeric, with Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo going to new levels under his tutelage (imagine Ismaila Sarr under Thomas Frank…) while he was flexible at playing a back three or four depending on the circumstances of the match.
Frank will surely be a man in demand this summer and so Palace will have to act fairly swiftly if they want to bag him.
Thomas Frank is currently unemployed and could be an option for Crystal Palace.Andoni Iraola
I think for many, Andoni Iraola is the preference to take over from Glasner this summer.
The Spaniard has shown his credentials expertly with Bournemouth, who have not lost a Premier League match since January 3.
He opted to move to pastures new and Palace are understandably thought to be very keen indeed.
The issue is that they are not the only ones.
Andoni Iraola will leave Bournemouth this summer.Iraola has been heavily linked to the Chelsea job and is, at the time of writing, the favourite to be appointed the next permanent manager at Stamford Bridge.
Iraola would be a brilliant fit at Palace, having overseen a challening summer in which he lost three of his four starting defenders - Milos Kerkez, Iliya Zabarnyi and Dean Huijsen in one transfer window - as well as Antoine Semenyo in January, and yet has seen the Cherries improve.
Should Palace manage to convince him to come, they can expect to be playing a brilliant brand of football, but it would be a major coup.