Town boss Mick McCarthy is amongst the potential contenders for the vacant manager’s job at Crystal Palace, according a number of this morning’s tabloids. Ian Holloway left the Premier League’s bottom club by mutual consent in late October.
It’s claimed that Cardiff boss Malky Mackay has turned down the job, while former Stoke manager Tony Pulis is believed to be less than keen on the financial package having reportedly held talks.
Wales boss Chris Coleman, a former Palace player, is said to be the current frontrunner, with McCarthy and ex-England U21s boss Stuart Pearce also said to be on Palace’s long list. Former Birmingham and Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish is thought to be interested.
One paper says serial Palace boss Steve Coppell, currently the director of football at Crawley, is wanted for a similar role with the Eagles.
Palace are said to be loath to pay compensation for their new boss, which would rule out McCarthy, who is contracted to the Blues until the summer of 2015.
In any case, despite his family home being in South London, it seems unlikely that the Town boss would be interested in moving to a club which looks destined for relegation back to the Championship having been promoted through the play-offs in May.
Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner reports that Martin O’Neill has verbally accepted the Ireland job and will formally put pen to paper on a contract this week. Ex-Town boss Roy Keane will be his number two.
Elsewhere, the Blues are linked with a loan move for Tottenham's England U21 international striker Harry Kane.
The 20-year-old has previously spent time on loan at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester and was recently in action at Portman Road in the England U21s' 5-0 victory over Lithuania.