In addition to having a significant impact on my career, Roy Hodgson is someone I’ve remained close to even after hanging up my boots—something that doesn’t typically happen in the football industry.
After learning with concern that he had become ill at Crystal Palace’s training field, I messaged him, and his responses gave me comfort. He reported feeling good, assessing his situation, and putting his health first.
It was pleasing to hear. He said he’s beginning to realize that he’s 76 years old and that it’s perfectly appropriate for him to prioritize himself.
Roy has devoted his entire life to football and achieved great success at it. In addition to giving so much to many players, including me when we advanced to the Europa League final with Fulham, he has won trophies and toured the globe.
He has nothing left to prove and may be extremely proud of what he has accomplished.
He undoubtedly felt a great deal of responsibility during a difficult season for Palace, but if this signals the end of his management career, he should leave with complete peace of mind.
Palace will undoubtedly continue to perform the role on which he was hired. Even if they had chosen to stay with Roy instead of pursuing Oliver Glasner, they still would have lived.
Although I think Palace has been overly practical and uninteresting this season, losing both of their finest players—Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze—at the same time cannot have been easy. There wouldn’t have been a conversation about Roy and Palace would have had more points if they had played more frequently.
Roy could have used more strategic adaptability this
There’s no denying how much I owe him. When Fulham appointed him, I was thirty years old and in need of someone to have faith in me.