Roy Hodgson has been confirmed as Crystal Palace's manager to succeed Frank de Boer, who was sacked on Monday after four Premier League games in charge. Hodgson has signed a two-year contract.
The 70-year-old returns to management for the first time since he stepped down after England’s defeat by Iceland at Euro 2016. It is his first Premier League job since he left West Bromwich Albion to take the national team role in 2012.
Palace are bottom of the Premier League without a point or a goal. Hodgson’s first game is at home to Southampton on Saturday and he will receive a significant bonus if he keeps the club in the Premier League.
He told the club’s official website: “This is very much the club of my boyhood and I remember in my youth watching the club from the terraces at the Holmesdale Road end which gave me such fond memories. In those days I had dreams of playing for the team, then as a coach you think about coaching the team and a lot has happened in between times.
“It is very rewarding to find myself here now, in different times, as the Palace manager at a club that I have always loved and admired with a huge potential. We are the club of south London, with an enormously large fan base. The ambitions here are realistic and there is an enormous potential for growth and I hope we can achieve our goals.
“I am very excited to be back in club football and it is a long while since I have enjoyed the day to day sessions of training.”
Ray Lewington will join Hodgson as his assistant.
(Guardian service)
