Roy Hodgson To Stand Down At The End Of The Season
The oldest manager in the Premier League, Roy Hodgson, will stand down as manager at Palace at the end of the season after a career spanning 45 years!
Today Crystal Palace announced that this Sunday’s game against Liverpool will be his final one in charge at the club. At the age of 73, many expected this to be the case, with Hodgson’s contract also running out this season.
The former England manager has said it is now time to stand down from full-time management and consider all his options. He leaves Palace after four years in charge with the club and confirmed safety in the Premier League.
His managerial career started back in 1976 at the Swedish club Halmstad. A successful five years in Sweden with two league titles attracted the attention of clubs back in England. He spent just two years in England before returning to Sweden for another eight years winning five league titles in a row. He did that well at Malmo, he was even offered a lifetime contract.
This fantastic spell in Sweden set him up for a career in football management in which he spent two years at Inter Milan, three at Fulham, one at Liverpool and four at England before going to Crystal Palace.
Whilst in charge of England, he took them to three international tournaments, Euro 2012, World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016. England were embarrassingly knocked out by Iceland and that was the end of his time in charge of the national team.
He may not have been the most exciting manager of all time but did a good job with what he had and helped keep Crystal Palace in the Premier League when they could have easily gone back down to the Championship!
Who Will Takeover From Hodgson At Crystal Palace?
Frank Lampard – 4/11
The ex-Chelsea manager finds himself out of a job after being sacked in January. He had a good first year at the London club, but this season wasn’t so good, especially with his new signings. Lampard did well with Derby County as well and it is clear he will have a career in management.
At the age of 42 and fairly recently having played, he will bring fresh ideas to the club. Palace need a big overhaul this summer with lots of players out of contracts. The job would also attract Lampard. It’s local to him, still in the Premier League and one that would come with less pressure than he had at Chelsea!
Sean Dyche – 10/3
This came as a surprise to see Dyche as one of the favorites. He has one year left on his contract at the club and since he has been their for nine years, he may be looking for something different. At Burnley, he doesn’t get much of a transfer budget and Palace are by no means spending Man City money but he would get more there.
Bringing in Dyche would certainly improve them defensively but maybe to the expense of their forwards. He plays a certain style of way that requires his team to be solid at the back and are often associated with playing long ball. This wouldn’t suit the likes of Zaha and Eze but maybe Dyche would need to adapt.
Steve Cooper – 5/1
The current Swansea City manager could be a good appointment for Palace. He won the u17 World Cup with England which then brought above a move to the Welsh club. He took over at Swansea in 2019 and has one year left on his contract.
He has taken them to two playoffs now, losing in the semi’s last season but still has this year’s to go. This could be the deciding factor in what he does. Should he take Swansea up, you’d imagine he’d want to stay with them. However, if they don’t go up again and with one year left at the club, could it be time to move on again.
