Few outside Crystal Palace expected Roy Hodgson to oversee Monday’s game with Chelsea. Based on the chairman’s programme notes - that failed to mention his manager by name - perhaps the club were not expecting it either.
Yet, despite negative discourse following the defeat to Brighton, Hodgson proceeded to take first-team training and successfully navigated what could have been a problematic news conference on Thursday.
Unfortunately for the Palace manager, despite a spirited first half and an unlikely lead courtesy of Jefferson Lerma, this game ended in the usual fashion for this encounter.
Few head-to-head records could be as severely one-sided as Chelsea vs Crystal Palace. This defeat made it thirteen in a row in the Premier League, the last win being Hodgson’s first league victory at the club back in October 2017.
The dilemma now for Steve Parish and the rest of the club’s hierarchy is whether this performance, even in defeat, warrants delaying a managerial change. In any case, Hodgson is a lame-duck manager, as by his own admission, these next 14 games will likely be his last in football.
Numerically, the team may need to win four of those matches to reach a 36-point threshold worthy of survival. With injuries and squad options being what they are, finding a head coach who would carry the team beyond this summer may still be prudent.
The crowd, while deflated by late defeat, was in good voice for most of the match, leaving impressed by home debuts for Adam Wharton and Daniel Munoz and encouraged by a first league start for Matheus Franca.
It would appear this club still has fight in it for whoever finishes the season in the dugout.
Alex Pewter can be found on the FYP podcast, external
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o67CZ5qopV%2BovbC%2B02idqKekl66tuI6tnJqlo2Sws8XSrZilZaCWuaKvxA%3D%3D