There has been plenty of speculation for months that Steve Cooper could be in line to replace Roy Hodgson as Crystal Palace manager, and he has now been approached.
However, despite the club’s intention to hire him now, the 44-year-old is not yet keen on a role at Selhurst Park, with Hodgson under intense pressure from the fans after a dismal run of form has left an injury-stricken Palace side in 14th place.
Palace have won just four of their last 17 games, are out of both domestic cups and are playing without a recognised style of play, whilst Hodgson has also been blamed for a long-term injury to Michael Olise.
Steve Cooper reluctant on Crystal Palace role
A report from Football Insider has now claimed that Palace are finally ready to dismiss Hodgson from his role, and want to appoint their preferred candidate in Cooper to replace him.
However, they now face a problem as Cooper is not eager on taking the role with Palace in their current state.
The report goes on to state that Cooper wants a full pre-season to implement his ideas and settle at the club, and prefers waiting until the summer before taking a new role anywhere following his exit from Nottingham Forest.
Crystal Palace are now in self-inflicted mess
Palace now find themselves in a situation where the club hierarchy have finally admitted that Hodgson is not the right man to be leading them forward this season, but they did wait far too long before coming to this conclusion.
Performances from the very beginning of the season have been dire, and Hodgson’s treatment of young players, and reported disregard of medical advice when it comes to player welfare, has set Palace back even further.
Should Palace have dismissed him earlier this season, then they could have attracted a new coach when there was something to salvage from this campaign. Palace are now missing several key players, are now treading thin ice when it comes to the relegation battle, and the mood amongst the fanbase has seldom been lower in recent years.
It seems unlikely that a new coach will want to begin a long-term project at the club in the middle of this crisis, and even if Cooper is still keen at the end of the season, there remains a lack of immediate solution if they do dismiss Hodgson.
