Passion the key player for unstoppable Roy

CRYSTAL PALACE boss Roy Hodgson insists he will know when it’s time to retire – when he finds it hard to get out of bed.

Until then the 71-year-old will continue to thrive on being in the front line of football management because of his passion for work.

It took him six months to realise how much he missed football after being sacked by England.

Hodgson said: “I did the usual things, go on holiday with the wife, relax, but then I began to become unsettled.”

His local club Palace made him an offer he couldn’t refuse and he saved them from relegation. The Eagles rewarded him with a new contract that expires in 2020 – and he is determined to see it out.

Hodgson (below), who takes his side to Watford today, added: “I am driven. I feel good enough. What keeps me going is the passion for the work.

“You could lose the love and desire to go out in all weathers, but I haven’t. I am here as a football coach doing the job I love most, working with players – and I feel good enough to still do it.

“I don’t think about my age very often. I don’t get up in the morning and think ‘Oh, God’. I am this age. I have my good days and bad days.”