Premier League English

Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace squad admission as battle against relegation shows results

Crystal Palace have admirably kept their noses above the swirling relegation waters as they remain unbeaten under Roy Hodgson with three wins from three Premier League games since the former England manager took over during the last international break.

Roy Hodgson has fittingly lavished praise on Crystal Palace for having assembled a great squad as they continue on their mission to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The former England manager was quickly ushered back into Palace during the last international break – a move that some had questioned – replacing Patrick Vieira after the team had failed to win a single game in 2023.

Remarkably, to his credit, Hodgson was a perfect model of poise and composure as his three games in charge have led to three wins over Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton – all sides involved in a fierce battle against relegation.

With the nine points gained, Palace have managed to create a nine-point gap between themselves and Nottingham Forest in 18th with seven games remaining until the end of the season. Kudos to Hodgson for having steadily led the charge to distance the club from the jaws of relegation.

The ex-Three Lions boss had in his earlier tenure managed Palace for four years before being replaced by Vieira in 202, and has been lavish with praise for this group of players amongst whom are some he had coached before, as well as the new arrivals.

Hodgson told talkSPORT earlier this week: “I’ve found it very, very good indeed. It’s an incredibly good group of players that the club have put together.

“I knew, of course, many of them – a very solid base of players that I worked with when I was there, who I had great respect and admiration for.

“But, of course, the new and younger players that have been brought in since I left the club have been very impressive, so it’s of course a very strong group.

“The competition for places is strong, and of course it’s players that win football matches, and that’s been my good fortune: to find out there is a good group players here, who are capable of winning football matches.”