Roy Hodgson says he won’t have any questions about his future at the Crystal Palace until the end of the season. The 73-year-old’s contract expires in the summer.
The veteran coach, who started his playing career through the Eagles Academy, has been in management since 1976 and is close to the end of his fourth season at Selhurst Park.
Hodgson signed a one-year extension in March last year, but it has been suggested that the former England boss could extend his managerial career towards the end of the 2020-21 season.
Prior to the away trip to Southampton on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports, Hodgson dismissed questions about his future, stressing that he remains focused on getting his Palace side to finish as high in the Premier League table as possible in four games.
He stated, “I don’t think any information I convey is going to be earth-shattering for the first part anyway, and secondly, as I’ve been saying all along, I want to end this season well and we don’t want it in any way. ” Do whatever affects our chances of playing well and being successful in the past few games.
“Let’s finish these games and then there will be plenty of time to answer certain questions I would get, but I am not ready to do this right now as more important things are on the horizon for me.
“Namely Southampton, followed by a visit to the Aston Villa this weekend.”
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Roy Hodgson’s future at Selhurst Park is uncertain as his contract expires this summer
Hodgson has no complaints about Crystal Palace’s busy season end and expects another quick start against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints on Tuesday, a game postponed from April 17th.
The Eagles scored a 2-0 win at Sheffield United last weekend after 66 seconds, bringing them to 41 points in the Premier League.
It was the start of a two week period that they will play five times, but Hodgson has downplayed all sorts of difficulties as their final clash was arranged days after a long trip to Yorkshire.
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Roy Hodgson (L) isn’t concerned about his team’s high number of games before the end of the season
He said: “I won’t dare call it a bunch, it’s just an extra game during the week and it comes about because of the FA Cup.
“Reaching the semi-finals, like Southampton did, meant they couldn’t play that day and now we’re playing the game midweek.
“I have no concerns or complaints about this and I see no signs that the players are showing any signs that this is going to be difficult because we are tired. I don’t see that at all. We will be as tonic as we are.” at the start of the game against Sheffield United. “
Hodgson revealed that Nathan Ferguson is unlikely to be around for the last two weeks of the season despite recovering from a hamstring injury to resume first-team training.
Mamadou Sakho (thigh), James McArthur (calf) and Connor Wickham (muscle) are also not controversial.
Speaking of ex-West Brom defender Ferguson, Hodgson insisted, “To get on stage he’s so close to the end now and the chance to have a really good preseason and make sure he’s 100% next time Percent is fit. ” The season is starting, I think it would be very stupid to throw him in and risk something that would disrupt the possibility of a good preseason. “
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Roy Hodgson is confident that Eberechi Eze will stay at the Crystal Palace
Hodgson is confident the club will stave off any interest in Eberechi Eze this summer.
The attacking midfielder has had a promising first season in the Premier League after arriving from QPR in August 2020 with a £ 20m deal.
On Saturday he caught Sheffield United again and after an excellent solo run he put in a good performance with a goal similar to the one he used to prepare Christian Benteke for Palace’s first goal in the 2-0 win at Bramall Lane .
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Eberechi Eze had an impressive first campaign at the Crystal Palace
Speaking to potential applicants trying to get Eze out of Selhurst Park at the end of the season, Hodgson said, “It didn’t really cross my mind as we just signed him.
“It was quite an investment for our club to pay 15 (million pounds) then five (million pounds) add-ons – that’s quite a big investment for us.
“I didn’t think it was an investment that would only last a season and then he would move elsewhere. I hope it doesn’t.
“I’m pretty sure the club will work very, very hard to make sure that any interest in him is denied because we bought him to the football club to play for us and to improve. We have him not brought into the club. ” Club to make a small profit on a transfer at the end of the first season.
“It’s his first season since he came out of the championship and it is expected that people will need some time to fully adjust to this level and we are delighted with him.”
