Crystal Palace’s manager has enjoyed extraordinary longevity – but if these are the final months of an impressive coaching career, how should he be remembered?
The whole dynamic of the game was Brighton attacking. Everything was about whether they could find the goal they so clearly deserved. When Christian Benteke then volleyed a winner for Crystal Palace, it felt so implausible it was impossible not to pause. It didn’t feel right: was that allowed? Had the whistle already gone? On the touchline, a huge grin broke across Roy Hodgson’s face, he gave a little skip, and he turned instinctively to hug Ray Lewington.
These are the best wins, particularly in a derby: stolen against all odds, against all justice. Analysis and fretting about midfield shape can wait: first you just have to enjoy the euphoric implausibility of it all. “It’s a wonderful feeling,” Hodgson beamed afterwards, and you could see that it was. He may be 73, he may have been coaching for 44 years, but he still feels an ignition of glee at a moment of the most preposterous larceny.
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