Roy Hodgson, who used to be in charge of England, will stay in charge of Crystal Palace until the end of the season.
Patrick Vieira took over for Hodgson at Selhurst Park in July 2021. On Friday, Palace fired him after a 12-game losing streak in all competitions.
Hodgson, who was 75 at the time, was Watford’s manager from January to May 2022, when the team was sent down to the Championship.
Hodgson expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to return to the club, stating, “It’s an honour to be invited to come back to the club, which has always meant so lot to me.”
“Is Hodgson the safe choice for Crystal Palace?”
After he left Watford, Hodgson said he didn’t think he would get another job as a manager in the Premier League.
Ray Lewington is also back at Palace as the first-team coach, and Paddy McCarthy, who was in charge of the 4-1 loss to Arsenal on Sunday, has been named the team’s assistant manager.
Steve Parish, the chairman of Palace, said, “I’d like to welcome Roy and Ray back to the club.”
After losing at Emirates Stadium, Palace is now 12th in the Premier League, but they are only three points above the relegation zone.
On April 1, Hodgson’s first game as manager for the second time will be at home against Leicester.
Over the course of more than 45 years, he has been a manager for Inter Milan, Blackburn, Fulham, Liverpool, West Brom, Palace, and the national teams of Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and Finland.
Hodgson has been the manager of six Premier League teams and has been in charge of 382 games. He already holds the record for being the oldest manager in the league.
He was the manager of England from 2012 to 2016, but the team didn’t make it out of its group at the 2014 World Cup, and Hodgson quit after a shocking 2-1 loss to Iceland in the last 16 of Euro 2016.
He was given a CBE in May 2022 for his contributions to football.
Analysis
Roy Hodgson is a safe choice for Crystal Palace, which is trying to avoid getting kicked out of the Premier League.
After Patrick Vieira was fired, it was known that Hodgson was one of the names being considered by the Palace’s top people, and you can see where they were coming from.
After taking over at Palace in 2017, Hodgson made sure the Eagles didn’t get sent down for the next four years.
But some fans don’t want the former England manager to come back because of the way the team played at the end of his last time in charge at Selhurst Park.
There are also questions about how his short-term job at Watford ended last season, when he couldn’t stop the Hornets from getting kicked out of the Premier League.
Under Vieira, Palace didn’t give up many goals. The Eagles are having trouble getting the ball into the back of the net, which is the other end of the pitch.
Hodgson is a good choice because he already knows a lot of Palace’s key players.
Hodgson’s main goal will be to get Wilfried Zaha to score again, since the Eagles’ chances of staying in the top flight depend heavily on their star player. Zaha is the only player on the team who has scored regularly in the league over the past four years.
“A wonderful date” or “the biggest mistake”?
