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After Graeme Souness turned down the job, Palace held talks with Taylor over the weekend. Luton's Mike Newell was also thought to be in the running, but chairman Simon Jordan has gone for the man who spent three years with Palace as a player in the 1970s. He is expected to do the job alongside coaching the England Under-21 side, as he did with City, should the incoming new England manager Steve McClaren agree. The South-East London club will have to pay compensation of around £250,000 for taking Taylor, as he still had a year remaining on his Hull City contract. He signs a one-year deal with Palace.
Taylor replaces Iain Dowie, who was in charge from December 2003 before resigning a fortnight ago. Dowie is now manager of Charlton Athletic, a job Taylor himself had been interviewed for.
Reports have linked City with ex-Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy, Doncaster's Dave Penney and Colchester's Phil Parkinson amongst others to replace Taylor.
Since taking over in October 2002, following Jan Molby's dismissal, Taylor's reign yielded 77 Hull City wins in 184 matches. 57 were draws, and 50 were defeats. The 53-year-old led City to their first promotion in 19 years, finishing runners-up of Division Three in 2003/04 - his first full season in charge - and then became the first manager in the club's history to take the Tigers to back to back promotions by claiming runners-up spot in League One the following year. He then succeeded in keeping City in the Championship, finishing 18th in what is now his last season in charge. Only three players - Ian Ashbee, Stuart Elliott and Stuart Green - remain in the squad from the pre-Taylor days.