Days ago, Crystal Palace appointed former boss Roy Hodgson as manager until the end of the season after sacking Patrick Vieira a week ago.
The 75-year-old manager’s main task is to save Palace from relegation as they are currently 12th on the Premier League table with 27 points from 28 matches, three points from safety.
When asked whether he is the right man to lead Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone with 10 matches left to play, Hodgson told Sky Sports that; “The club thinks I can help it so it is right to go along with their judgement.”
This is not the first time Hodgson has managed The Eagles. The Englishman’s first spell in the dugout at Crystal Palace was between 2017 and 2021, a period where he managed 162 matches, won 54, drew 38, and lost 70. Even though his winning percentage was just 33%, Hodgson avoided relegation during those four years.
He hopes to do the same this season, as he told reporters immediately after arriving at Selhurst Park this morning that; “It feels very good [to return], I look forward to it.”
Hodgson stepped down from his role as Crystal Palace manager on his own terms at the end of the 2020/21 season, and the decision to return until the end of the season he says was “not difficult at all to make.”
“I am delighted to be given the opportunity to come back and to try to change the team’s fortunes around.”
Hodgson’s first match in charge of Crystal Palace will be against seventeenth-placed Leicester City on Saturday, April 1 after the international break, a match that will mean a lot to both clubs.
