Jose Mourinho heaped praise on the job Tony Pulis is doing at Palace this season.

The Chelsea boss was tipped to be Coach of the Year by former England manager Fabio Capello but Jose brushed off that, saying: “I have to say thanks [to Capello] but I don’t think I am the coach of the year,” Mourinho said.

“I think always the coach of the year is the coach of the champion.”

The 51-year-old continued: “We can find also another special coach in somebody who got a team in difficult circumstances and did something special.

“I thinking for example Tony Pulis. He got Palace bottom and I think many managers didn’t want to accept the job because the feeling was the team had no chance."

Palace were bottom of the table when Pulis took over and now lie in 15th spot with 13 games to go.

“Pulis got the team and step by step he is doing an amazing job. I don’t think I am coach of the year.”

Time for the next in our series of potential new managers. Here's Tom Wellman who wants Pompey's Michael Appleton as the new Eagles gaffer.

Since his arrival into full-time management, Michael Appleton’s burgeoning reputation and charisma has marked him out as the Championship’s wanted man amidst the managerial departures at Blackburn, Ipswich and Palace. His spell in charge of a troubled Portsmouth side has been shrouded in difficulty yet he remains one of the exciting, fledgling managers in the Football League.

He’s overseen a miserable year at Fratton Park but Appleton has endeared himself to fans and media alike largely thanks to his brutal honesty and consistent integrity shown in times of severe worry. Appleton has endured administration, a familiar feeling at Palace, and is now beginning to bring wins to a team devoid of any sort of budget.

The general consensus across the footballing oasis is that Appleton’s likeability is the chief contributing element to his high profile, rather than his tactical nous. Whilst possibly agreeable, the situation Appleton has been forced to endure has resulted in an entire overhaul of the squad which suffered relegation last season. Already this season Pompey has fielded 31 players; very few of whom played at all prior to joining in the summer. He has sifted through enough players to fill a rugby squad and recently guided Pompey to 4 wins in their last 6 games. Whether Appleton’s orders of a 4-4-2 formation are suitable for the game ahead, simply winning at all with the deck of cards at his disposal is impressive enough.

Appleton’s position at Portsmouth makes comparison challenging and therefore uneasy to judge whether he is capable of handling a stable side. However, Appleton accumulated 31 points in the Championship last season – the exact amount that Dougie managed here during the same time. Mind you, we did have to deal with a draining cup run as opposed to the serious issues of bankruptcy.

Simultaneously, Appleton has been left with no option but to implement raw youngsters into the side to field a full XI. Albeit his choice or not, Appleton has readily turned to youth this season, playing Adam Webster and Ashley Harris regularly despite their ages of just 17 & 18 respectively. Previously academy coach too at West Brom, Appleton has ample knowledge of the effectiveness a strong youth system can have on a team, which is why he would make a perfect candidate for Steve Parish to monitor.

Under his guidance, players such as Kyle de Silva, Kwesi Appiah and Reise Allasani could prosper as previous generations have done at Palace. You would feel that Appleton could slot straight into the system that has become an integral part of the current Palace squad. If our own youth isn’t enough then Appleton has a wealth of contacts ready to delve into. He’s worked under Roy Hodgson and Roberto di Matteo at West Brom, gaining valuable experience from two wise heads, both of whom can recommend astute signings or loanees.

Finally, Appleton is a fighter. A serious knee injury curtailed his career, increasing his desire to succeed in management. His defiance to Pompey’s woes earned respect from many and his likeability will soften the blow of being let down by the formerly-popular Dougie. Here at Palace, fighters have been revered and their values adored. Much maligned former bosses Dowie and Warnock were both of the ilk and enjoyed modest success at Selhurst.

Appleton has been a shrewd appointment for the Portsmouth faithful, who fondly think of him as their shining light. Often seen interacting closely with the Supporter’s Trust, it is thought that Appleton’s principles would be upheld at a club like Palace where the fans are enormously involved during matchdays.

He’s recently stated that he wants to continue to rebrand Portsmouth from the bottom upwards but if the past week has taught us anything it is that talk is cheap. Money matters and a consistent wage at a Championship club currently 4^th in the league could sway his mind should Parish wave a contract under his nose.

Dear oh dear. The national press and half of Twitter has been going crazy over something some 14-year-old Manchester United fan probably did while bored.

Images appeared of a supposed Wilfried Zaha tweet claiming he was "on my way to the top of the premier league" yesterday and, naturally, Twitter exploded.

Most assumed it was an indication that the Crystal Palace star was signing for Manchester United.

He could, of course, have just been talking about winning the top flight with Palace. Obviously.

But it was soon proven to be a fake tweet, not least thanks to the creator's failure to amend the total number of tweets in the image (as seen above).

Palace have even confirmed by their official Twitter account it was fake, saying: "Wilfried Zaha has confirmed that a tweet attributed to him in today's media regarding moving to the Premier League was not from his account."

But that didn't stop many of the UK's national newspapers picking up on the story including the The Sun, who's journalist Charlie Wyett still has refused to acknowledge it was fake.

Wilf later tweeted "I don't know remember tweeting no such thing so I don't know where the tweet came from".

Our favourite reaction was from Annie Eaves who proved how easy it was to make a fake tweet and started to produce some of her one. THIS was our favourite.

Meanwhile, Palace manager Ian Holloway has claimed that if Zaha does leave the club in January, it will only be with a deal to loan him back.

"Wilfried Zaha is wanted by some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League," Holloway said in his Sunday Mirror column. "And THAT, in the football silly season that everyone else calls January, is the problem.

"The need for confidentiality makes it impossible to reveal who is interested in Wilfried and who has made a bid.

"I felt it necessary to have a chat with Wilfried this week about what might happen and what definitely won't be happening. Even if we do reach an agreement with a club, it would have to include a clause that Zaha stays put for the rest of the season."

We all know Nate Clyne is leaving Palace this summer for pastures new, that isn't news, but developments on where he will end up and how much the club will get for him rumble on.

After months linking him with a move to Manchester United, Premier League surprise package Newcastle have now emerged as a possible location.

And while the Magpies have made contact with Palace over a deal, nothing is yet finalised.

And Eagles boss Dougie Freedman has called on Alan Pardew's club to be "responsible" over a deal, rather than let it go to tribunal.

“I don’t think people will do that, because they get very nervous with going to tribunals – there’s not one set figure,” said Freedman.

“Any responsible club would rather sit down face to face with our chairman and say ‘let’s thrash a deal out’ if they want the kid.

“I believe it will go that route – it’s just a matter of seeing what happens.

“Nathaniel must have ideas where he’s going to go because he’s had a very good financial contract put on the table here.

“To turn that down, he must have one or two options.”