An Apology to Roy Hodgson

What a turnaround Crystal Palace have seen in recent weeks. In their last six games, their record reads; WLDWWW,. 13 points from a possible 18, doesn’t sound too bad for a team who were dabbling in the battle for relegation just over a month ago. In the twelve games prior to the return of Hodgson, the Eagles had amassed just three points. Quite a turnaround isn’t it!

Palace now sit 11th in the league and on 40 points have more or less ensured safety for another season. That now puts them above fellow London club Chelsea who in contrast have got just two points from their last six games. The job that Hodgson has done is nothing short of exceptional, especially due to the form that Palace were in prior to his arrival.

Plenty of journalists as well as myself criticised Palace for almost taking a step back in their long term project by sacking Patrick Vieira. The ex-Arsenal legend hadn’t had a bad tenure until 2023, where his side found themselves winless in over three months. A Palace side which were underperforming and showing no fight on the pitch needed someone to take over and hit the ground running. I, like many, did not think Hodgson was the man to do this due to the poor showings at the end of his last spell at Palace as well as Watford, but we’ve been proved well and truly wrong.

This was a team who were not only struggling to find the back of the net under Vieira but even struggling to register a shot on target. Three games in a row, the Eagles had failed to even have an attempt on target. A huge change in fortunes since Hodgson’s return has seen the Eagles find the back of the net 13 times in the 6 games he’s been in charge. That includeds a 5–1 win over Leeds and a 4–3 win over West Ham. Revolutionising the attack has been a part of Palace’s attack recently. Most players finally fulfilling their potential and the Eagles once again look to be one of the best young teams in the Premier League.

What’s even more impressive is they’ve done all of this without talisman Wilfried Zaha…

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