Hodgson still king of Palace as fans call for a revolution
C PALACE 3 ASTON VILLA 2
LOVE him or hate him, Roy Hodgson is still getting a tune out of Crystal Palace.
Wednesday’s visit of Arsenal is set to be Hodgson’s last game in charge at Crystal Palace.
Few Palace fans will call for an encore from the 73-year-old, though he surely deserves a decent send-off from the 6,500 allowed in.
But you cannot say his players do not put a shift in for him – twice coming from behind to beat Aston Villa.
Palace have been safe for weeks, but that did not stop them giving everything. John McGinn put Villa ahead but Christian Benteke equalised against his former club. When Anwar El Ghazi put the visitors back in front, Wilfried Zaha levelled again before Tyrick Mitchell scored the winner. Hodgson, whose contract is up this summer, is not often associated with fivegoal thrillers. But this one put a huge dent in any European hopes they may have at Villa, who are now winless in three games – though at least Jack Grealish made his comebback.
Palace are at a crossroads. Many feel Hodgson has done a great job but plenty of fans want the club to go in a more exciting direction next season.
Benteke sums up the problem. Unable to hit a barn door with a banjo for much of his Palace career, he is on a hot streak.
His towering header to level the scores was his third goal in as many games.
But he is one of 13 first-team players out of contract this summer, all of them 28 or over. This team clearly has no future and it is time for a change.