Time is right for me to step down from responsibilities as full-time manager, reveals Roy Hodgson
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed that the time is right for him to leave the Eagles and potentially football management with him potentially set to retire at the end of this season. The 73-year-old is the Premier League’s oldest ever manager and has spent more than forty years coaching.
Few managers have been so consistently everpresent for Crystal Palace than Roy Hodgson with the 73-year-old keeping the Eagles in the top flight despite all the odds stacked against him. However, given the former Liverpool and Inter Milan boss’ experience over the years, few would have bet against Hodgson not struggling with the Selhurst Park side. But with his contract expiring at the end of the season, reports indicated that the club were looking for a new path.
That could potentially be Frank Lampard with the former Chelsea boss currently looking for the right project before he makes his move. But in a statement released on Tuesday, Hodgson confirmed that he will be leaving Crystal Palace and potentially hinted at retirement. The Premier League’s oldest coach further added that he will wait and contemplate his next decision and see what the future holds.
“After more than 45 years of coaching I have decided that the time is right for me to step away from the rigours of top flight Premier League football, so our final two matches will be my last ones as manager of Crystal Palace. It’s been a particularly rewarding period of my football life and career to have been able to spend these last four seasons with Palace,” Hodgson said in a statement
“I feel now that at the end of another successful season, in which we have secured our Premier League status, the moment is right for me to step down from my responsibilities of being a full-time manager.
“I have had so much support from my wife and family throughout my career and I have been contemplating this decision for some time, and now I believe the time is right to consider them and to see what the future holds for me.”
After nearly four years of managing his boyhood club, Roy Hodgson will be stepping down as our manager at the end of this season.
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 18, 2021
Thank you for everything, Roy ❤️💙