Crystal Palace podcaster Dan Cook has expressed his concern for the club following the news surrounding Lucien Favre.
The Swiss manager was reportedly ‘set to sign’ a deal that would see him take charge of Palace until 2024, taking over from Roy Hodgson in the Selhurst Park dugout. However, it then emerged he decided to turn down the offer as he felt that he wasn’t ready for a return to top-level management just yet.
This is set to be a big summer for Palace as they deal with a whole host of players being made free agents at the end of their contracts, and for things to change at this stage, with just 50 days remaining until the start of the Premier League season and pre-season preparations getting underway, that is rather worrying.
Speaking on the HLTCO podcast, Cook couldn’t contain his emotions about how badly this decision could end up being for the club:
“I am genuinely concerned now about our place in the Premier League. I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, I think everyone’s going to be hurting this morning.
“Now, whoever comes in is really up against it, I think. You’ve got an ageing squad as it is – of course, there is still the wiggle room in terms of the wage budget and the transfer budget on offer – but you do wonder quite who would, in their right mind, take that job on now.”
TIF Thoughts on Dan Cook’s comments about Lucien Favre and Crystal Palace…
Will Palace have their next manager in place by the start of July?
Yes
No
Cook is right to be concerned, because with every day that goes past, the job does become a little bit harder, especially if potential transfer targets are being snapped up by other clubs whilst they are still in the process of hiring a manager. And they’d also have less time to implement their plans in pre-season, which could give them a huge disadvantage when the season starts.
And the more difficult the job looks from the outset, then the managers that might be tempted by the job might start to give it a second thought.
You just hope that they do manage to find someone and soon so that they can get to work, otherwise all the work done by Hodgson to stabilise the club will end up being all for nothing.
In other news: Dan Cook drops claim on potential Crystal Palace takeover amid rumours