'I've heard Steve Parish wants to sack Pierre Sage and appoint 40-year-old at Crystal Palace'
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish is keen on former Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna amid mounting pressure on Pierre Saga.
That is according to experienced former Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The 47-year-old is under the cosh at Selhurst Park following a hugely disappointing start to his tenure that has seen the Eagles win just two Premier League games.
Sunday marked a significant defeat for Sage, with Crystal Palace suffering a humiliating 5-0 battering at the hands of rivals Brighton.
McKenna, 40, left Ipswich in the summer after leading his team back to the Premier League for a second time, having taken over while the club sat in League One.
The Northern Irishman was in charge for four and a half years at Portman Road, but decided to step down to spend more time with his family.
Steve Parish eyeing Kieran McKenna move
Several Premier League managers already find themselves under pressure this season, and will hope to avoid becoming the first to the sack in the coming weeks.
The nature of the defeat against Brighton looks to have propelled Sage to the front of the pack, although Palace are keen not to rush into a decision.
Should the Frenchman not turn the situation around quickly, however, it appears that Parish is already eyeing potential replacements.
"The Crystal Palace manager is my favourite [for the sack], because I've already heard that Parish, the chairman, certainly likes the boy McKenna, who was at Ipswich," King told Football Insider.
"Crystal Palace are an established Premier League side. What McKenna did at Ipswich, to revive Ipswich and bring them to the Premier League, they went down, they came back up.
"He stood by his principles and he left the club. He wasn't sacked. He left the club. He's a free agent. So, I would imagine that the Palace manager, for me, is the one who's under pressure."
What has McKenna said about returning to management?
It remains to be seen just how ready McKenna is to return to management, but he could certainly be in high demand when he does.
"I’m always going to want to be somewhere where I can improve players, play attacking football and win games,” he told the Guardian earlier this month.
"But beyond that I’m a manager who wants to enjoy having that connection with a club, a community, trying to build something memorable.
"It was a really special opportunity at Ipswich and you want to do that again in your career. But you have to be ready to come in somewhere and get some short-term success as well.”