Four candidates to take over at Crystal Palace after Oliver Glasner confirms exit plans

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has confirmed he will be leaving Selhurst Park at the end of the season when his current deal expires.

Glasner’s decision comes less than a year after guiding Crystal Palace to the FA Cup glory, and with it, the Eagles’ first season in European competition.

Crystal Palace haven’t been as successful this time around, and it appears Glasner wishes to seek a new challenge elsewhere after nearly two years at the helm.

The news comes on a nightmare day for Palace, who are also set to lose captain Mark Guehi to Manchester City in this window.

However, amidst the chaos for Palace fans, we look at which managers could take over from the Austrian at Selhurst Park?

Four candidates to succeed Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace

Kieran McKenna

The current Ipswich Town boss was originally touted as a potential successor to Roy Hodgson back in February 2024, but ultimately stuck with the Tractor Boys, guiding them to promotion from the Championship that season.

Though his Ipswich side did go straight back down, the Englishman earned plenty of plaudits for his performance at a club with limited resources at its disposal.

Back-to-back promotion from League One to the Premier League is no mean feat.

After just over four years with Ipswich, he may feel the timing is better this time around – although Celtic is also an option for McKenna.

Brendan Rodgers

Beyond his success at Celtic, the former Liverpool manager has worked miracles in England’s top-flight with Swansea City and Leicester City.

Rodgers guided Leicester to back-to-back top-five finishes, but his biggest achievement was winning the FA Cup with Leicester.

However, the 52-year old may be difficult to convince, having only signed with Al-Qadsiah in December 2025.

But with similar underdog success stories as the departing Glasner, Palace may be tempted to pry him away from his new life in Saudi Arabia.

Roberto Martinez

The Spaniard has spent the last decade managing international teams, having managed both Belgium and Portugal.

However, before he dabbled in international football, Martinez caused arguably the biggest upset of all time, winning the FA Cup with Wigan in 2013 – are you sensing a theme here?

He also guided Everton to a fifth-place finish the following year before the Toffees slumped back into mid-table during the rest of his tenure.

With his Portugal contract set to expire at the end of the World Cup, it could be a good time for Martinez to make the switch back to club football.

Gareth Southgate

The romanticist’s choice. A product of the Crystal Palace youth academy, Gareth Southgate went on to make just shy of 192 appearances for the club before spells at Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.

He went on to manage the latter before eventually landing the England job in 2016.

After taking England to back-to-back Euro finals, Southgate stood down. 

The Englishman has since talked of the England job as a “higher purpose”, meaning he is unlikely to find satisfaction in club management again.

However, could Southgate be swayed by a return to a team he has a clear attachment to?