Roy Hodgson packs bag for Palace Summer exit
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has stated that he expects to leave the club at the end of the season.
Hodgson returned to the Palace dugout in March, signing a short-term deal until the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
The 75-year-old has enjoyed a successful second spell with the club, winning five of his nine matches in charge (D2, L2).
Having guided Palace away from the danger zone and up to 11th place, there has been speculation as to whether Hodgson could remain as Palace boss beyond the end of the season.
However, speaking to reporters ahead of the club’s final game of the season against Nottingham Forest, Hodgson has admitted that he still expects to leave the club after Sunday’s contest.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is my last game,” Hodgson told reporters. “I signed a contract here until the end of the season and I was grateful to do so.
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“All along, I have seen this as my last game on my contract and as far as I’m concerned that’s what it is.”
The Palace manager was asked if he would consider staying in the role if he was offered the chance by the club’s chairman Steve Parish.
“I don’t know,” Hodgson said. “I’ll wait until that day arrives if it ever arrives. At the moment I don’t have to concern myself with that.
“What’s on my table is to see my contract out, thank everyone for the last two and a half months and hopefully help the team get a result…I hope to leave all my options open.”
Hodgson confirmed that Wilfried Zaha will miss Sunday’s contest through injury, and there is a possibility that he has played his last game for the club, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
The Palace boss added: “Wilfried’s injury was sufficiently severe to keep him out of the next game. He’ll need a week or two more to recover, so it won’t keep him out of next season. He will be fit for pre-season, but we won’t have the benefit of him on Sunday.”
Sunday’s encounter will also be the final time that James McArthur and Luka Milivojevic play for the club after their departures were recently confirmed.