Crystal Palace have ended their search for a new manager by reappointing Neil Warnock, who has been out of work since leaving Leeds last year, and will grant him funds to strengthen his squad ahead of the transfer deadline.
Warnock succeeds Tony Pulis, who departed Selhurst Park just 36 hours before Palace's opening fixture of the season, and returns to the club where he spent almost three years before leaving once Palace slipped into administration and were handed a 10 point deduction in the Championship back in 2010.
The 65-year-old subsequently restored Queens Park Rangers to the top flight for the first time in 15 years but, over a 34-year coaching career, has taken charge of only 58 games in the revamped Premier League.
The former Sheffield United and Huddersfield manager has signed a two-year contract, having effectively been preferred to Steve Clarke for the position from the last round of interviews, and will be in charge for Saturday's trip to Newcastle.
Warnock will be given the chance to appoint his own backroom staff, and will make a decision on whether to retain the existing caretaker manager, Keith Millen, and the first-team coach Ben Garner. Attempts will be made to lure the Notts County manager Shaun Derry, who had two spells at Palace as a player, back to south London as part of his set-up, with an eye to establishing him as a long-term successor.
Gerry Francis, who had been working part-time back at Palace under Pulis and in the immediate aftermath of his exit, is now expected to leave, though the south London club’s hierarchy are confident Warnock will be able to rally a squad unsettled by the recent upheaval.
He inherits a squad which finished 11th last season but has seen only three additions to date this summer – Fraizer Campbell, Brede Hangeland and Martin Kelly for around €2.4 – with efforts already underway to supplement numbers ahead of Monday's cut-off.
The club want to recruit at least four players, though it is unclear whether they will now be able to push through a €3.8m move for Southampton's Jack Cork, who was on the verge of joining when negotiations were at an advanced stage to secure Malky Mackay as Pulis's successor before details of offensive text messages sent by the Scot while managing Cardiff were made public.
Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood was also interviewed for the role before Palace co-chairman Steve Parish and his board drew up an alternative short-list and conducted further interviews earlier this week.
Palace are confident there will be no lingering resentment between Warnock and winger Jason Puncheon, who had been fined €18,900 by the Football Association and warned as to his future conduct last season for comments made on Twitter following his former manager at QPR's criticism of a penalty miss at Tottenham Hotspur in January.
“There’s no way I would’ve trusted him with a penalty,” Warnock had said on Talksport. “You’ve got to have somebody a little bit more cool, and he’s not like that, Jason.”
The pair have since met face to face and cleared the air, with Puncheon set to continue as a key member of Palace’s side.
