Crystal Palace are poised to give their Under-21s’ manager, Paddy McCarthy, the chance to lead the club to Premier League safety after sacking Patrick Vieira.
A former defender for the club with more than 130 appearances, McCarthy is highly regarded by the Palace hierarchy and could land the job on an interim basis until the end of the season if he impresses.
The 39-year-old has been working with Palace’s academy since August 2021 and will take charge of his first ever first-team game at Arsenal on Sunday. There is also an option of reappointing another former Palace player, Shaun Derry, on an interim basis but no moves are expected before this weekend. Vieira dismissed first-team coach Derry in February for reportedly “overstepping in his role”.
Vieira has endured a miserable 2023 as Palace’s head coach and is the ninth Premier League managerial casualty of the season.
Vieira was dismissed on Friday morning as he traveled to the club’s training ground, following talks between the Palace ownership the previous day.
It is understood that concern has been growing for some time, and that preparations for the game against local rivals Brighton on Wednesday were alarmingly poor, with the news filtering through to the boardroom.
Palace chairman Steve Parish said: “It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made. Ultimately, results in recent months have placed us in a precarious league position and we felt a change is necessary to give us the best chance of retaining Premier League status.
“That said, Patrick’s impact since joining us in the summer of 2021 has been significant, and he is held in the highest regard by myself, and all of his colleagues. He led the team to a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and a respectable 12th placed finish last season playing some exciting football, which was a challenging and crucial campaign for the club given the changes we made to the squad prior to his arrival.
“Patrick has given his all to the club, and we all thank him and his team for their service.
“We also wish Patrick, Osian, Kristian and Saïd the very best for their futures.”