Hodgson set to hold talks with Palace hierarchy over future

ROY HODGSON is set for key talks with the Crystal Palace hierarchy as the club plan their long-term future. The Eagles have preserved top-flight status once again under Hodgson as they prepare for the visit of Tottenham on Sunday, their final game of the season. Palace are on a run of seven straight defeats, leading to concerns about the club’s direction, particularly the role of their veteran manager. Hodgson is expected to hold an end-of-season debrief with chairman

Steve Parish to discuss the future — in particular player recruitment plans. Hodgson will be 73 when next season starts. That, coupled with the manager having just ten months to run on his current contact, has led Palace to start looking at the longer-term. The club’s network of scouts have focused on younger targets ahead of the summer transfer window, which opens on Monday. Five out of the last six permanent first-team Palace signings have been players aged 28 or over, with Hodgson keen on adding more experience ahead of the 2020-21 campaign. But they have already signed 19-year-old fullback Nathan Ferguson from West Brom. Palace want to be respectful to Hodgson, who has helped consolidate the club’s top-flight position since arriving in 2017. There is reluctance to push Hodgson out of the door, which essentially leaves the ball in the former England manager’s court if there is to be a parting of ways before the end of his deal.