Crystal Palace are in talks with former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini about their vacant hot seat
According to Sky Sports, Crystal Palace are in talks with former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini about the vacant hot seat at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles are looking for a successor to Sam Allardyce, who quit as Palace boss at the end of the season. However, reported targets Marco Silva and Claudio Ranieri recently joined Watford and Nantes respectively.
Palace reportedly holds an interest in Burnley boss Sean Dyche, but it seems the Eagles have now turned their attention to Pellegrini.
Pellegrini would be a good choice for Palace
I have to say, for me, Pellegrini would be a surprise choice. However, he has proven in his managerial career that he is a very capable football manager. The experienced former Villarreal boss also has experience in the English game from his time at Manchester City.
The Chilean won the Premier League title once and the League Cup twice with the Citizens. While some City fans criticised the veteran boss, he has always seemingly done a decent job wherever he has gone.
The City job is not an easy one, just ask managerial icon, Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard arrived to take Citizens to the next level. He did, but the next level was just a third place finish in the league instead of the fourth place achieved under Pellegrini.
However, it’s his spells at Villarreal and Malaga that will encourage Palace fans. The Chilean took both clubs to unchartered waters, most notably the Champions League. Both clubs were relative minnows when Pellegrini managed them.
Pellegrini managed to get the best out of both sets of players with his understated style of man-management.
Palace underachieved last season
Crystal Palace finished last season in 14th place in the Premier League table. Allardyce was hailed for keeping the Eagles up when in real terms they underachieved and went through some terrible runs of form during the campaign.
Only some late season good results saw the Eagles soar away from the relegation zone. In terms of players, they have a decent squad. The likes of Belgian striker Christian Benteke and wingers Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend are such good players on their day.
The attacking trio is a good foundation to build on, assuming that Tottenham do not follow up their interest in Ivory Coast international Zaha.
A player who vastly underperformed last season was France international Yohan Cabaye. The former Newcastle star may well be on the move this summer, as he has looked unsettled.
The Eagles hierarchy, including chairman Simon Parrish, were quite ambitious by Palace’s standards of spending last summer. Whether there will be a repeat of last summer’s spending remains to be seen.
This summer they are unlikely to sell a player for the best part of £30million like last summer when winger Yannick Bolasie joined Everton. If Zaha stays, then it will be interesting to the resources afforded to the club’s new boss.
Could finish in the top ten next season
The congested nature of the Premier League’s midtable last season suggests that Palace have an opportunity next season to push on. The likes of Benteke, Townsend and Zaha would get into most of the teams below the top seven in the Premier League.
The trio are good players. With the right boss and some decent summer additions, Palace surprise people next season. The Eagles odds of 9/2 to be relegated next season seem slightly harsh to me. If Pellegrini is the Palace boss next season it is highly doubtful they will be in a relegation scrap.
For me, Pellegrini would be an ambitious choice for Palace. However, I really do believe he would be an excellent choice of boss for the Eagles.
Would Manuel Pellegrini be a good choice for next Palace boss?
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