George and Gerry in queue for Palace

George Graham and Gerry Francis are the leaders in the queue of candidates to become manager of Crystal Palace.

The two men, among the most experienced managers in the country, have the sort of track record that Palace chairman Simon Jordan is looking for after sacking Alan Smith.

And Standard Sport has learned that both would be interested, even if Palace lose their fight to stay in the First Division.

Graham, 56, was sacked by Tottenham last month and is still in dispute with the club about payment for the 14 months that were left on his contract at White Hart Lane.

Francis, 49, resigned as manager of Queens Park Rangers in February but stayed on as director of football as they failed to prevent relegation to the Second Division. But despite the fact that the careers of both men are at a low ebb, Graham and Francis have impressive CVs.

Graham, a former Palace player and coach, has collected more honours as a manager than any other man still working other than Sir Alex Ferguson. He was at Millwall, Arsenal and Leeds before joining Spurs.