After Roy Hodgson became the first man since Steve Coppell to reach 150 matches in charge of Crystal Palace, he sat down to talk through some of his most unforgettable victories to date. In Part One of the manager’s recollections, he discusses his first few weeks in charge of a squad seemingly in turmoil, and reveals the secrets behind the victory over Chelsea that kick-started a memorable campaign.
When Hodgson took over in September 2017, Palace had made the slowest of starts to the campaign. After four defeats without scoring, the manager’s job was as much psychological as it was tactical early on:
“We were a wounded team when I came in,” he says.