Report: Crystal Palace eyeing manager Steve Parish has called ‘magnificent’ as emergency option

By Charles Jones

According to Alan Nixon on his Patreon, Roy Hodgson is an option for Crystal Palace until the end of the season.

Nixon noted that Paddy McCarthy is likely to be given the chance to manage the Eagles until the end of the season as he is set to be promoted from within the Palace coaching staff.

McCarthy is currently a coach within the Palace youth setup and he could be given the chance to take the reins at Selhurst Park until the end of the season.

However, Palace are also considering bringing Hodgson back in a move that would be remarkable and unsurprising at the same time.

At the age of 76, Hodgson reportedly retired after his last spell with the Eagles, but he came out of retirement last season to take charge of Watford.

Now, Hodgson could be set for another emergency firefighter role, this time with his boyhood club and his former team Crystal Palace.

While hiring someone of Hodgson’s age isn’t necessarily the most forward-thinking appointment Palace could make, it could be huge in terms of helping them stay in the Premier League.

Indeed, Hodgson has always been a survival specialist, helping the likes of Fulham and West Brom beat the drop in the past, while he also knows the playing squad well from his time at the club.

He also has a fantastic relationship with the club’s chairman, Steve Parish. Parish described Hodgson as a ‘magnificent human’ when he left the club back in 2021, and that solid working relationship may mean that Parish is keen to work with the former England manager once again.

Hodgson is reportedly retired, but we’ve heard this story one too many times before and it wouldn’t surprise us one bit if he was back in the Selhurst Park dugout before too long.