Watford Could Be Roy Hodgson’s Toughest Premier League Relegation Battle Yet – Forbes
Roy Hodgson, Manager of Crystal Palace at the time, shows appreciation to the fans prior to the … [+] Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Southampton at Selhurst Park on September 16, 2017. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Like the latest action movie featuring all your favorite ‘90s stars, Roy Hodgson has been dragged out of his peaceful retirement for one last fight, and it might be his toughest fight yet.
<p…….
Roy Hodgson, Manager of Crystal Palace at the time, shows appreciation to the fans prior to the … [+]
Getty Images
Like the latest action movie featuring all your favorite ‘90s stars, Roy Hodgson has been dragged out of his peaceful retirement for one last fight, and it might be his toughest fight yet.
The 74-year-old has been drafted in as Watford’s new manager after the club sacked Claudio Ranieri this week, and like all Watford appointments, he is one for the short term. Ranieri’s 14-game reign at Vicarage Road was short even by Watford standards, but with eight losses in their last nine games, his dismissal comes as no surprise.
Hodgson has been appointed to pick up the pieces and keep Watford in the Premier League. He has done it before with Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace, but that’s no guarantee of success.
As the famous escape artist Sam Allardyce found out last season with West Bromwich Albion, even those who do the impossible can’t always do the impossible. Allardyce had saved Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland and Crystal Palace from the drop in the past, but West Brom were one rescue mission too many.
Hodgson made his Premier League reputation at Fulham, who were 18th and two points from safety when he took over in December 2007. That season he had a transfer window to sort his team out, bringing in the massively influential Norwegian centerback Brede Hangeland.
He certainly didn’t have a “new manager bounce”, picking up just two points from his first five games and six from his first ten. Fulham looked dead-and-buried at the start of April before winning four of their last five games to survive on goal difference.
His other two “great escapes” were not quite as dramatic. West Brom were outside of the relegation zone on goal difference when he took over, but they also had a game in hand on the teams below them, and were only three points off Everton in 13th place. Hodgson again had a relatively slow start, drawing his first three games, but only lost twice that season.
Crystal Palace had only played four games when Hodgson took over at Selhurst Park. To put that in perspective, Arsenal lost their first three games this season and could finish in the Champions League spots. It did take Hodgson some time to turn around Palace’s form though. His lost his first three games in charge before a famous win over Chelsea, …….
