In their hour of need Crystal Palace’s decision to turn to former manager, Roy Hodgson, was a master stroke.
The Eagles were plummeting down the Premier League in 2022/23 and Patrick Vieira couldn’t seem to get a tune out of his players.
Indeed, before he was sacked and replaced by the aging Hodgson, the Frenchman hadn’t won a match in 2023, the last one coming in the final match of 2022.
Hodgson didn’t just save Palace but had them playing some of the best football for years as they took apart teams in a brilliant run.
He’s doing reasonably well this season too, and at the time of writing his side are a healthy ninth in the Premier League with 12 points from their nine games, the same as Man United and just two away from seventh placed West Ham.
The issue for chairman Steve Parish, however, is that Hodgson can’t go on forever and has already retired from the game once before being coaxed back out of that, short-lived, sabbatical.
That’s perhaps why the Eagles are being linked with the hire of 50-year-old Lille manager, Paulo Fonseca.
Alors que West Ham était notamment venu aux nouvelles l’été dernier, le Lillois #Fonseca garde la cote en Premier League. #Crystal #Palace est aujourd’hui intéressé par le Portugais, Hodgson (76 ans) n’étant pas éternel. #Mercato #LOSC
— Ignazio Genuardi (@IgnazioGenuardi) October 9, 2023
According to the former editor-in-chief editor of Football365, Ignazio Genuardi, West Ham came close to appointing Fonseca last season before David Moyes turned things around.
Now he could find a home in south London when Hodgson leaves, as expected, at the end of the current campaign.