It is believed a manager praised by treble-winning Man City boss Pep Guardiola is "attracted" to the Crystal Palace job, amid ever-mounting pressure on current head coach Roy Hodgson after another blow.
Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea
The Eagles made it three losses on the bounce after a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea in south London on Monday evening, with Mauricio Pochettino's side scoring twice in stoppage time to inflict what was a painful final few minutes.
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Palace actually took the lead and held their own for a large portion of the contest, but their efforts were cruelly undone in dramatic fashion as Hodgson struggled to find the positives at first.
“I’m not really in the mood if I’m being brutally honest of (highlighting) positives and trying to find things to say that would cheer me up, because I don’t know what could be said that would cheer me up," said Hodgson on Palace's defeat to Chelsea.
“What can I say that will cheer the players up? I could possibly say, well, with the players we’ve got coming back and these guys doing so well, it bodes well for the future with the 14 games we have left.
Nathaniel Clyne
6.37
Chris Richards
6.43
Sam Johnstone
6.44
Joel Ward
6.48
Will Hughes
6.50
“But of course we still don’t know when (Michael) Olise, (Eberechi) Eze will be back, so we might be battling through like we’ve done tonight for a few more games before we can look at a team which will threaten the opposition a bit more than we did today.”
Former Palace loanee Conor Gallagher cancelled out Jefferson Lerma's opener just after half-time, with the Englishman then putting Chelsea in front on the 91st minute mark before Enzo Fernández rounded off their victory.
Mauricio Pochettino is under slightly less scrutiny after two wins on the trot in all competitions, but the same definitely cannot be said for his dugout rival from last night. Indeed, reports have suggested that chairman Steve Parish and the Palace board have been looking at managerial replacements for Hodgson, with an update now coming to light on ex-Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui.
Lopetegui "attracted" by Crystal Palace job
The Spaniard has been linked with a move to Selhurst Park following his departure from Wolves last year, and Football Insider journalist Pete O'Rourke writes that Lopetegui is "attracted" by Palace's quality squad.
Parish and co are keen on the 57-year-old as a possible replacement for Hodgson, with the ex-Sevilla boss actually near the top of their target list. However, Lopetegui is also believed to not be overly infused with taking the job right this second as they flirt with relegation.
It could be one to watch in the summer if Palace avoid a drop to the Championship, though, and City boss Guardiola interestingly holds Lopetegui in very high esteem.
"I would like to call him in the next days. I'm so disappointed, but I know what football is," said Guardiola on Lopetegui after he was once sacked by Real Madrid.
"I'm sorry for Julen because he's a friend of mine, he's an exceptional person. We played together at Barcelona, and have an amazing relationship."
