A CUP OF JOY FOR ROY
After four decades with six clubs, Hodgson’s in the last eight for only the third time
HE may have become the oldest manager in the history of the Premier League, but Roy Hodgson has found FA Cup success rather hard to come by over the years.
A comfortable passage into the quarter- finals yesterday saw Hodgson reach the last eight for only the third time in a managerial career covering more than four decades and six English clubs.
He has been to Wembley as England boss many times, of course, but never in the Cup as a club manager. On the day he overtook Sir Bobby Robson as the Premier League’s eldest statesman at the age of 72 years and 192 days, Hodgson steered Crystal Palace to victory over a spirited Doncaster Rovers.
He couldn’t progress further on the other two occasions he made it to the quarters with Fulham in 2009 and 2010, and Hodgson isn’t getting his hopes up despite being one of only six Premier League teams left in tonight’s draw.
Reminded of his Wembley record, he replied: ‘That’s true, and I might not get there again!
‘The fact is we’re a team that is between the middle and bottom of the table. Sooner or later you are going to meet Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea. It’s just a matter of when that happens.
‘I’m happy just to be in the draw but the priority is the same. I would like to do well in the Cup. I would like even more to stay in the Premier League.’
For Doncaster, FA Cup success has been in even shorter supply — this was their first appearance in the fifth round for 63 years.
Unfortunately for the League One club, any hope of going further was effectively extinguished before half-time.
Jeffrey Schlupp fired Palace ahead in the eighth minute after Luka Milivojevic made an excellent interception and sent the Ghana international sprinting away from inside his own half.
Schlupp burst past Paul Downing before trying his luck from 20 yards. The shot took a slight deflection off Downing’s legs and that was enough to take the ball past goalkeeper Marko Marosi.
The second goal arrived moments after the one minute added on by referee Mike Dean at the end of the first half had elapsed.
Milivojevic was involved again, dinking a lovely pass over the top of the Doncaster defence for Andros Townsend, who headed it across goal for the unmarked Max Meyer to score from close range.
‘To concede the first one was a sucker blow and the goal before half-time really took the wind right out of our sails,’ admitted the Doncaster manager Grant McCann, who was without 20-goal forward Mallik Wilks following a mix-up by the FA over the player’s suspension.
‘We galvanised them at half-time and we were better in the second half.’
That was true, although it could have been even worse for the