Roy Hodgson: Crystal Palace manager rebuffs questions over future with his contract set to expire
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Monday 10 May 2021 16:29, UK
Roy Hodgson says he will not entertain any questions about his future at Crystal Palace until the end of the season, with the 73-year-old's contract set to expire in the summer.
The veteran coach, who came through the Eagles' academy at the start of his playing career, has been in management since 1976 and is coming towards the end of his fourth campaign back at Selhurst Park.
Hodgson signed a one-year extension last March but it has been suggested that the former England boss may choose to call time on his managerial career at the conclusion of the 2020/21 season.
Ahead of the away trip to Southampton on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports, Hodgson rebuffed questions over his future, and stressed that he remains focused on ensuring his Palace side finish as high in the Premier League table as possible with four games to go.
He explained: "I don't think any information I impart will be world-shattering anyway for the first part and secondly, as I have said all along, I want to finish this season well and we don't in any way want to do anything that will affect our chances of playing and doing well in the final games.
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"Let's get those games done and then there is plenty of time to give answers to any particular questions I would get, but I am not prepared to do it at this moment in time because there are more important things on the horizon for me.
"Namely Southampton, followed by the visit of Aston Villa this weekend."
Hodgson has no complaints about Crystal Palace's busy end to the season and expects another quick start away against Ralph Hasenhuttl's Saints on Tuesday, a fixture that was rescheduled from April 17.
The Eagles scored after 66 seconds at Sheffield United last weekend to register a 2-0 victory which moved them onto 41 points in the Premier League.
It was the start of a two-week spell where they will play five times, but Hodgson has played down any potential difficulties with their latest clash being arranged days after a lengthy trip to Yorkshire.
He said: "I won't dare call it a pile-up, it's just an extra midweek fixture and comes about because of the FA Cup.
"Getting to the semi-final, as Southampton did, meant they couldn't play that day and now we play the game in midweek.
"I have no qualms or complaints about that and I don't see the players showing any signs of 'this will be tough because we're tired', I don't see that at all. We will be as tonic as we were at the start of the game against Sheffield United."
Hodgson revealed Nathan Ferguson is unlikely to feature during the final two weeks of the season despite recovering from a thigh injury to resume first-team training.
Mamadou Sakho (thigh), James McArthur (calf) and Connor Wickham (muscle) are also not in contention.
On ex-West Brom defender Ferguson, Hodgson insisted: "To get to the stage he is now with it so close to an end and the chance to do a really good pre-season and make certain he is 100 per cent fit when the next season starts, I think it would be very foolish to throw him in and risk something happening which would disturb that possibility of a good pre-season."
Roy Hodgson confident Eberechi Eze will stay at Crystal Palace
Hodgson is confident the club will fend off any interest in Eberechi Eze this summer.
The attacking midfielder has enjoyed a promising first season in the Premier League following his arrival from QPR in August 2020 in a deal worth £20m.
He caught the eye again on Saturday against Sheffield United, capping a fine performance with a goal following a superb solo run, similar to that which had seen him set up Christian Benteke for Palace's opening goal in their 2-0 win at Bramall Lane.
On potential suitors trying to prise Eze away from Selhurst Park come the end of the season, Hodgson said: "It has not really occurred to me as we've only just signed him.
"It was quite an investment for our club to pay 15 (million pounds) and then five (million pounds) in add-ons - that's quite a big investment for us.
"I wasn't contemplating that it was an investment that would only last one season and then he would move somewhere else, so I hope that is not the case.
"I am pretty sure the club will work very, very hard to make sure any interest in him will be warded off because we bought him into the football club to play for us and to make us better, we didn't bring him into the club to make some small profit on a transfer at the end of the first season.
"It is his first season since coming from the Championship and you expect people to need a bit of time to get fully adjusted to play at this level, and we are delighted with him."
