Roy: I can’t nail Zaha’s feet to floor

AFTER a week of thrilling games of great significance came a thrilling game of near total irrelevance. Surely the 12th spot in a Premier League table has never been so marvellously contested. It was carnage, a glorious example of the mayhem that can happen when the children are allowed to bring in their toys on the last day of term. Whatever small stake there was in the game, Crystal Palace looked good for it from the start, with two goals from Michy Batshuayi and a Jack Simpson own goal taking it to 3-0 in the first half. Jefferson Lerma and Jordan Ibe mounted a fightback, before goals from Patrick van Aanholt and Andros Townsend sandwiched a strike from Joshua King to settle a quite bonkers match. With it, Palace got 12th, as well as their record points tally for a 38-game season of 49. If there is a dampener in all that fun, then maybe it is the realisation of the tricky times ahead, with uncertainty surrounding the future of Wilfried Zaha, who was involved in all five of Palace’s goals, and the return of Batshuayi to Chelsea after his loan. There will also be interest in Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Hodgson said: ‘I can’t nail people’s feet to the ground, I can’t turn down bids. Only the directorship of the club can do that. But they are as aware as we are of how important these people are.’ Bournemouth finished with the thirdworst defensive record in the division, and boss Eddie Howe said: ‘We have conceded too much. That has to be the focus for next season.’