• Premier League

Palace no closer to finding new manager

Tim Sherwood has ruled himself out of the managerial position at Selhurst Park © Getty Images

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Steve Parish has admitted Crystal Palace are struggling to find the perfect man to replace Tony Pulis, revealing he has only interviewed two candidates.

Palace's co-chairman hopes to have a new manager installed by "the early part of this week" and to push through at least three new signings before the September 1 transfer deadline.

Parish has only met Tim Sherwood and Malky Mackay so far in his bid to replace Pulis, who walked out on the eve of the season after rows over transfer policy.

"You read all sorts of things about how many people we've seen," Parish told the Croydon Advertiser.

"I have seen very few people, probably two, but spoken to other people about managers and doing background work and due diligence."

Palace decided against Mackay after he became caught up in allegations of racism and homophobia brought by former club Cardiff, which also led to the resignation of Palace's sporting director Iain Moody.

Former Tottenham boss Sherwood pulled out of the running after initially being deemed second-choice.

Caretaker manager Keith Millen will take control of Tuesday's League Cup trip to Walsall, keen to solve defensive shortcomings that led to Saturday's 3-1 league defeat to West Ham.

"It's not a revolving door of people coming in and having a chat," added Parish. "We have got a profile of a manager we think needs to carry the club forward based on what I've experienced over the last four years.

"Finding the right person isn't easy. A lot of managers are in jobs and they're not going to leave clubs early in the season, so it's a difficult situation."

Rangers manager Ally McCoist distanced himself from the vacancy at the weekend, while Steve Clarke confirmed his interest but said no one from Palace had made contact.

Other candidates include former Norwich and Newcastle manager Chris Hughton and former Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

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