HODGSON NEARS TWO-YEAR DEAL TO LEAD PALACE
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ROY HODGSON was today finalising a deal to become the new Crystal Palace manager on a two-year contract.
Hodgson takes over from Frank de Boer and returns to management just over a year since he left the England job after a humiliating exit from Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland.
The 70-year-old will receive a bonus if Palace stay up and his appointment was expected to be confirmed once the finer details of his contract were rubber-stamped.
He is likely to bring his long-term assistant Ray Lewington with him although Sammy Lee, who joined Palace with Sam Allardyce last season and worked with Hodgson at Liverpool, is expected to leave.
Palace sacked De Boer yesterday after just 77 days in charge and Eagles chairman Steve Pari sh spoke to Allardyce about a possible return. He turned to Hodgson when Allardyce made it clear he was not interested.
Hodgson, who was born in Croydon and played for Palace as a schoolboy, takes over a side bottom of the Premier League and without a point or a goal from their first four matches. He becomes t h e o l d e s t ma n a ge r i a l appointment in the Premier League.
His first match will be against Southampton at Selhurst Park on Saturday before another home game against Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup next Tuesday. Palace then face three difficult matches against Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
The Palace job is a chance for Hodgson to repair his reputation after the way his England reign ended.
Hodgson resigned immediately after England’s embarrassing last-16 defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016. He has been out of work since and will return to club management for the first time since leaving West Brom to become England manager in 2012.
Parish has tasked Hodgson with keeping Palace up and stabilising the club after the disastrous reign of De Boer.
Palace are the first English top-flight team in 93 years to lose their first four games without scoring and they hope Hodgson can have some of the success
he had at Fulham. Hodgson took the west London club from the brink of relegation to their best Premier League finish of seventh in 2009 and to the Europa League Final in 2010.
Hodgson will work alongside Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman, who was appointed three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, De Boer is understood to be disappointed by the way he has been treated by Palace and feels the club should have backed him with more time to turn things around.
But there was a breakdown in the relationship between De Boer and Parish and the writing was on the wall before the 1-0 defeat at Burnley on Sunday that led to his departure.
It quickly became clear after the Dutchman was appointed that he was not the right fit for Palace.
De Boer wanted to implement some of the Ajax philosophy in south London but the players struggled to adapt.
De Boer was left frustrated by a lack of signings and felt it was unfair to expect him to implement his style with only one permanent arrival — Jairo Riedewald from Ajax for £7.9million — before the final day of the transfer window.
Palace signed Mamadou Sakho from In 2017 Betfair has had the best odds on all English football. T&Cs Betfair Sportsbook had the lowest overrounds and most top/joint top prices for pre-match match odds, 1/2/17 – 29/5/17. See terms for details Liverpool for £26m on deadline day but the defender arrived short of fitness and too late for De Boer.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timothy Fosu-Mensah were signed on loan but De Boer felt he was left with a thin squad. It is thought De Boer identified as many as seven goalkeepers for Palace to sign but the club failed to secure any of them.
De Boer was also left short of attacking options when Palace did not bring in a back-up striker. A deal for Oumar Niasse fell through on deadline day because personal terms could not be agreed.
A lack of new signings meant the change in style was never going to happen overnight but Palace had concerns about the way the squad were responding to De Boer.
The doubt between De Boer and the board led to his departure four games into a three-year contract.
However, James McArthur says the players needed to take reponsibility for the club’s troubles.
“It is us who are not doing our job,” said the midfielder. “The manager set us up in the right way and it is us on the pitch who have not scored or taken the opportunities. We stepped up performance wise at Burnley but could not put the ball in the back of the net.”