THINK IT’S ALL ROVER?
Remembered for Iceland flop but Roy could be Prem top dog again 23 yrs after he did it at Blackburn
ROY HODGSON has the chance this weekend at the age of 73 to do something he has not done since he was 50.
Sit at the top Premier League.
When Manchester United beat West Ham
2- 1 on September 13,
1997, it knocked Hodgson’s Blackburn from a perch the former England boss never came close to returning to. Until now.
Beat Everton tomorrow and Crystal Palace are guaranteed to be top until Sunday at least when Leicester travel to Manchester City.
“I wasn’t aware of that,” said Hodgson. “I must say being top of the Premier League would only interest me, whatever age I was, if it came after a lot more games than two.
“We’re getting a lot of praise and I’m very happy for that and very grateful and pleased the players are getting that recognition. But it’s two games – let’s see where we are after 38.”
Nevertheless, four years after hitting rock bottom with England’s defeat by Iceland at Euro 2016, it would be a remarkable turnaround – not least because Palace won 3-1 at Manchester United to have a chance to go top.
Unsurprisingly though – for good or for bad – Palace manager Hodgson is not a big fan of being judged on just one or two performances. Palace are fifth, of the
Everton are second and he said: “It is quite strange when you’ve nearly 60 games with the national team and you don’t lose that many to suddenly lose a game and for the world to tumble around you. It’s a tough thing to take.
“But it’s good because when you do get a particularly good result, like we did last weekend, you are able to put the
into some sort of two things perspective.
“I don’t think the work we had done before the Iceland game was particularly disastrous and I don’t think the work we did before the Manchester United game was anything more than we’ve been trying to do over the last three-and-a-half years at the club. “Iceland is a game I get remembered f for but I get remembered i in a lot of countries, not j just England. My career is still probably a smaller part in England than it’s been abroad.
“I don’t think the Iceland result would have affected my reputation in Switzerland, in Italy, in Sweden, in Denmark, in Norway, in the UAE.
“I didn’t feel the need in any way to prove myself again because at the time the result came about I’d already worked for over 40 years in football.
“If it really is so sad that after 40 years in football one result can damage the previous 40 years, then I’ve definitely chosen the wrong profession.”