Crystal Palace reappoint Roy Hodgson as manager until end of season
Roy Hodgson has been reappointed Crystal Palace manager until the end of the season.
Hodgson, 75, returns to manage his boyhood club for a second stint after Palace sacked Patrick Vieira last week following a run of 12 games without victory.
The former England manager takes over with the Eagles fighting for Premier League survival, sitting three points above the relegation zone with 10 games to go.
Image: Hodgson has broken his own record as the oldest Premier League managerial appointment at the age of 75
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Hodgson said: “It is a privilege to be asked to return to the club, which has always meant so much to me, and to be given the important task of turning the team’s fortunes around.
“Our sole objective now is to start winning matches, and to get the points necessary to ensure our Premier League status.”
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Palace’s next game is at home to Leicester when the Premier League resumes after the international break on April 1.
Hodgson has been appointed despite stating last May, when he was coming towards the end of a short spell in charge of Watford: “I don’t think I shall be putting my name forward anymore for further stories in the world of Premier League football.”
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Paddy McCarthy, who took caretaker charge of the Eagles’ 4-1 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday, will be Hodgson’s assistant manager while Ray Lewington returns as first-team coach. Dean Kiely will continue as Palace goalkeeping coach.
Chairman Steve Parish added: “I would like to welcome Roy and Ray back to the club.
“We are obviously in a very challenging period but we believe that Roy’s and Ray’s experience, knowledge of the club and players, alongside Paddy can help fulfil the immediate requirement of keeping us in the league.”
Morrison: Hodgson the man to get Palace out of trouble
Analysis from former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison on Sky Sports News:
I was disappointed Patrick Vieira left. But Roy Hodgson has the experience, he has been in this situation and knows a lot of the players.
Palace wanted a change, not every fan is going to be happy because you move on and you want to evolve, which the club have done over the last couple of years.
But they’re in trouble and they think Hodgson is the man to get them out of that. So you wish him well and hopefully he can keep Palace in the Premier League.
It’s a short-term thing – maybe the manager that they wanted was not available.
I think it was always going to be Hodgson, with his affinity with the club – he knows it, he is close to the chairman and the people.
I just think it works, it is an easy appointment from now until the end of the season. He’s been in this situation a few times with Palace where he has had to keep them up.
We thought his last job was going to be Watford, where it didn’t work out for him and he was going to retire, but he probably feels this was too much of a good job to turn down.
If he can keep Palace up in the Premier League, it will be fantastic because the run they are on, it doesn’t look like they have any confidence. He’s got a hard job on his hands.
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Sky Sports News reporter Mark McAdam takes a closer look at the task awaiting Hodgson at Palace with goals, running distance and winning back the fans the issues he will have to address
‘Palace don’t have time to take risks’
Analysis from Sky Sports News reporter Michael Bridge:
“Steve Parish has gone with Roy Hodgson because short-term, he knows what he brings. I was speaking to Palace fans after Vieira’s dismissal and they wanted Marcelo Bielsa.
“I said, ‘Bielsa, for the last 10 games?’ That’s not how he works. We know this from when we were talking about the Everton job.
“Roy Hodgson knows the club inside-out and there were those shots when he returned to Palace as Watford manager and you just got the feeling that he thought, ‘This is my home’.
“We spoke to him on our transfer show in January and he said when he was talking about Palace, he just loves the football club. He spoke so highly about Wilfried Zaha and the players that are there now.
“They say the table doesn’t lie but it does in a way this season in terms of teams that are around 12th, they don’t have time to take risks. Steve Parish will look at this and think, ‘I have a fantastic working and personal relationship with Roy Hodgson’ and it seems the best move for him now.
“You could tell in January he wasn’t retired. He wanted one more go.”
‘Palace should have held their nerve’
Analysis from Sky Sports’ Alan Smith, speaking to Sky Sports News:
“Crystal Palace have panicked. They should have held their nerve with Patrick Vieira.
“It’s been mentioned that they’ve got some very winnable fixtures and yes, they weren’t scoring goals. They weren’t getting shots on target half the time, but they also weren’t conceding many either. They were really tight at the back.
“So, a lot of results were close. The draws and defeats were very close affairs and I think Vieira is a good manager that will grow and get better in the future.
“When we get to this stage of the season and a side is flirting with relegation, most owners will pull the trigger, and Palace have been no different.”
When asked if Hodgson can keep Palace in the Premier League, Smith added: “He’s certainly got the experience.
“We all thought he’d finished and maybe he did as well. We’ll have to watch this space, but as things stand, I think Palace have made the wrong decision.”
How does Hodgson fix Palace's scoring problems?
Former Arsenal and England striker Alan Smith:
“Roy Hodgson isn’t known as that adventurous attack-minded coach. He wouldn’t have been the person that you immediately think of to improve Palace’s fortunes in front of goal.
“He’s proven himself a very good coach down the years, but it has been about solidity and keeping clean sheets, which is something Vieira didn’t struggle with either. It’s up the other end where Hodgson has maybe lacked over the years.
“Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Philippe Mateta haven’t proved the solution so you think if they do survive, they will have to spend again in the summer and invest in the squad.”
Crystal Palace’s remaining Premier League fixtures
April 1: Leicester (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 9: Leeds (A) – Premier League, kick-off 2pm
April 15: Southampton (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 22: Everton (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
April 25: Wolves (A) – Premier League, kick-off 7.30pm
April 29: West Ham (H) – Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm
May 6: Tottenham (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 13: Bournemouth (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Fulham (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Nottingham Forest (H) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
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