Crystal Palace intend to appoint a new manager before Saturday's Premier League match at Hull - with former Stoke boss Tony Pulis in advanced talks to succeed the departed Ian Holloway.
The Palace hierarchy are hopeful of completing negotiations in the next 24 hours, having returned to Pulis after being disappointed by the calibre of the other candidates who had applied.
The 55-year-old former Stoke City boss has been among the front-runners since Holloway left the struggling Eagles on 23 October.
Welshman Pulis was appointed Potters boss for a second time in 2006 and two years later led them into the Premier League after a 23-year absence.
Despite not finishing lower than 14th in five seasons in the Premier League, he left the Britannia Stadium by mutual consent in the summer after being told the board wanted to take the club in a "different direction".
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Pulis admitted in October that he was keen to return to management but insisted "the job had to be right."
Initially, Pulis did express reservations about a number of aspects of the Palace post. He has never been relegated during his 21-year coaching career, and if he does take the job he would want to be allowed to bolster the squad in the January transfer window in order to try to preserve that record.
Eagles chairman Steve Parish had also seriously explored the possibility of appointing former Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu, who is now manager of Dinamo Moscow.
However, Petrescu told AFP news agency: "I have not been in talks with any club being under contract with another outfit. And I'm not set to do it in the future."
Struggling Palace are believed to be reluctant to appoint a young up-and-coming coach for fear of giving fans and players the impression they were already planning for relegation.
The London club are currently bottom of the Premier League having won just one and lost nine of their 11 matches. The club are six points adrift of safety having only collected four points from 11 games.