Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish says that the search for the next manager of the club is taking longer that he would like, and has underlined what he wants from the person who will be taking over from Roy Hodgson. The club announced early in May that Hodgson had decided to leave the club at the end of the 2020/21 season, a decision that the manager revealed he had made some months beforehand. Parish and sporting director Dougie Freedman have had plenty of time to examine their list of candidates, and it looked last week as if they had made a final choice with an approach for former Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Steve Parish said: “It’s challenging obviously, there’s not a lack of people who would like to come and manage Crystal Palace football club in the Premier League. We’re very fortunate with that. You have to try and get it right. Outside pressures – I see all sorts of stuff that’s written – the really important thing is we block that out because the only thing that matters in the end is that we win football matches. We have to find the right person to help us do that. Not only immediately but will also help us with the young players we want to bring through. So, it’s a big decision, these things take longer than you would like them to.”