Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic appears unlikely to land the vacant top job at Crystal Palace with the English Premier League side reportedly keen to appoint Tim Sherwood.
Popovic, a former Palace assistant coach and player, was linked to a fairytale return to the south London club after they parted ways with Tony Pulis last week only 48 hours before the season kick-off.
Palace, captained by Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak, suffered a 2-1 season-opening loss to Arsenal on Saturday under caretaker coach Keith Millen.
According to British media reports, the Eagles now appear on the brink of appointing former Tottenham Hotspur boss Sherwood, who met Crystal Palace co-chairman Steve Parish on Sunday and was said to have impressed in his interview.
Popovic is contracted to Western Sydney until the end of the 2015/16 A-League season with Wanderers chief executive John Tsatsimas declining to comment on whether or not the club had been approached by Palace officials.
While Sherwood is the clear frontrunner, former Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay is said to also still be in the mix.
Palace are set to make their decision early this week to give the new manager time to add to his squad in what remains of the transfer window.
The job opened up after talks between Pulis and Parish reportedly broke down with Pulis frustrated at not being able to sign the players he wanted.
Pulis led Palace to a creditable 11th place finish in the Premier League last season after inheriting a squad languishing in the relegation zone in November.
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