Why Crystal Palace are right to hesitate over sacking Roy Hodgson
Roy Hodgson has once again proved he’s got thick skin. His Crystal Palace team might be lacking in fighting spirit on the pitch right now, but their manager is showing plenty of it in press conferences at least.
“I signed up to be the manager of this football club. And I’ve got the strength and resilience and determination to see things through,” Hodgson said after Palace’s 4-1 shellacking at Brighton, which saw the Eagles’ fans call in no uncertain terms for their manager to be sacked.
“I’m certainly not going to be cowed by that type of thing,” Hodgson said of the taunts.
It’s just as well, as there may be more of the same “hurtful” comments around the corner for the beleaguered veteran with the club stalling on a decision to change manager, despite having reportedly considered sacking Hodgson.
Steve Cooper and Julen Lopetegui have been mooted as possible candidates to take over, but there’s a sense around Selhurst Park that the timing isn’t quite right for a new long-term appointment.
Palace have been here before, of course, when they tried to move on from Hodgson by appointing Patrick Vieria, who was sacked in March last season after a 12-game winning run.
Hodgson did superbly to steady the ship and avoid relegation but reappointing the 76-year-old was always short-termist thinking from Steve Parish, the Palace chairman.
You can understand why Parish and the club’s hierarchy are proceeding with caution this time around. There’s little point in being hasty about their next hire, with the team still five points clear of the relegation zone and a new manager requiring time to bed in and implement his own ideas.
Nobody wants another Frank de Boer situation – four games, four defeats and then the sack in 2017 before Hodgson’s first spell – and there’s an enormous amount of respect for Hodgson within the walls of the club.
That Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi are all now suffering from injuries – and will be assessed later this week – complicates the issue further. They are arguably Palace’s three most important players and it would represent a hospital pass to any incoming manager to start their tenure with the trio sidelined and a tough run of fixtures ahead.
Chelsea are the next visitors to Selhurst Park on 12 February in what represents a potential make-or-break fixture for both Hodgson (if he’s still there) and Mauricio Pochettino. After that, a trip to Everton is fraught with danger.
If those games are lost, Hodgson will surely reach breaking point and Parish’s hand will be forced anyway. Fan discontent doesn’t stop with Hodgson – “no shared vision, no structured plan” read a banner in the Brighton away end – and the club will have to act. They may gamble on an interim manager or hope someone like Cooper is willing to take the plunge. Winnable games against Burnley and Luton are on the horizon.
Until then, patience will be tested to its limit, with Hodgson’s best case scenario a stay of execution until the summer. But after 48 years in management, he’s earned the right to rage against the dying of the light.
