5. Tim Sherwood
The former Spurs and Blackburn midfield stalwart has been out of a job since being brought in to steady the ship at White Hart Lane following the departure of André Villas-Boas last season after a very poor start (and the calamity of the summer's investments coming up so short), and would represent a smart, hands-on coach for Palace. Though he would probably bemoan the very suggestion, Sherwood would also be the best option if Palace were going to move forward with a Director Of Football model, which would make sense if the stories of board-room control over transfers (or at least unwillingness to change transfer policy) are indeed true.
Pros He's a highly rated coach, and knows the top level game inside out having been a professional up until he retired in 2005 at Coventry.
Cons Inexperience to start with, and then there's also the fact that Sherwood quickly picked up a reputation for openly criticising his Spurs players after poor performances. Yes, they might have been abject, and their performances worthy of criticism, but Premier League players are like ornamental orchids in many respects, in that if they aren't given the right amount of love, they will simply not blossom. Every Premier League manager needs to balance the duties of a gardener - feeding the flowers enough sh*t to help them thrive, as well as weeding out the badness - with those of a PR manager, and that's aside from any actual coaching duties, and because Sherwood has now done the unthinkable in professionals' eyes by outing the players at Spurs, he will always be considered that sort of manager. Pulis built his teams success not just on good tactics, but on confidence and team morale, and if Sherwood's coming in to tell the media that everyone's head is down, and their performances are terrible, then he'll find his words becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.