{"id":4214,"date":"2020-09-21T09:13:47","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T07:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ma57.dk\/?p=4214"},"modified":"2022-08-16T09:14:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T07:14:29","slug":"a-gentleman-from-croydon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ma57.dk\/en\/a-gentleman-from-croydon\/","title":{"rendered":"A gentleman from Croydon"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday afternoon, there is a top match in the world\u2019s best football league: Crystal Palace F.C. vs. Everton F.C. from Liverpool at Selhurst Park in the south-east of London. There are very few who had predicted a top match between these two clubs after the first two rounds and there are certainly even fewer who believe that the home team \u2013 The Eagles \u2013 will end up in the league\u2019s best half when the season\u2019s 38 games are over. Yet every time Crystal Palace plays, a new record is set by 73-year-old manager Roy Hodgson \u2013 a gentleman from Croydon who proves every day that age is relative and quality can be lifelong.<\/p>\n

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Roy Hodgson\u2019s Backyard: A run-down, sad and impoverished suburb<\/strong><\/p>\n

I visited shortly after Roy Hodgson\u2019s appointment as manager of Crystal Palace F.C. 3 years ago the dilapidated and sad district of Croydon, where Roy Hodgson was born and raised. Roy\u2019s mother worked in a bakery and his father was a bus driver in one of London\u2019s poorest areas, where apartment blocks, terraced houses, greengrocers, hairdressers, fish-and-chips shops, betting companies and pubs form a cluttered and raw suburban area. In the same way as the many different ethnicities, it forms the pulsating and colorful street scene. It was by no means coincidental that almost 10 years ago, Croydon was the center of a series of riots in which houses and shops were set on fire and confrontations between police and troublemakers became front-page news in the media. As a boy, unlike his father who was a Newcastle United fan, Roy was a happy Crystal Palace supporter and he also tried to break through as a youth player in the favorite club. It never succeeds, however, but the dream of winning football matches, respect and recognition with Crystal Palace F.C. remained unchanged at Hodgson throughout his lifelong career as manager of 16 different clubs and national teams in 8 different countries.<\/p>\n

Great sporting success in Sweden: Four Championships and two cup titles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roy Hodgson was educated as a P.E. teacher, but already at the age of 23, Hodgson began his coaching career in English amateur clubs. However, it was not until he was appointed head coach of Halmstad BK in the mid-1970s that his impressive coaching career really took off. Halmstad BK was at that time bottom team and threatened with relegation in Sweden\u2019s best football league \u2013 Allsvenskan \u2013 but in record time Hodgson introduced a new style of play with great success: Halmstad BK sensationally won the Swedish championship in Hodgson\u2019s first season at the club, which was repeated three years later. Also in Malm\u00f6 FF, which has always been one of Sweden\u2019s top clubs, Hodgson achieved great sporting success with two Championships and two Cup titles in four seasons (1985-1989). Because of these achievements, Hodgson was highly regarded and he had a great influence on the development of Swedish football throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Hodgson, along with his good friend and coaching colleague Bob Houghton, introduced zone coverage with a high offside line of the four defenders as well as high pressure on the opponents\u2019 ball carrier of the midfield and forwards.<\/p>\n

The cornerstone of FCK\u2019s dominance in Danish football<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roy Hodgson also laid the foundation for FCK\u2019s sporting success in recent decades, even though he was only associated with the club for a single season: 2000-2001. Hodgson is, in my opinion, by far the greatest coaching capacity that has worked in the Super League. In record time, the experienced Englishman, who at the time had also been coach of the Milan club Inter in Serie A and national coach in Switzerland, succeeds with a classic British 4-4-2 game concept and a strong discipline on the team exemplified through the two leadership types : Jacob Laursen as central defender and St\u00e5le Solbakken as back midfielder to achieve great sporting success: FCK lost only four matches in the season 2000-2001 and became supreme Danish champion. In many ways, Hodgson has put together his game concept according to simple principles \u2013 unlike many \u201cmodern\u201d coaches and managers. Hodgson has e.g. always believed that the farther the ball is from one\u2019s own goal, the fewer goals the opponents score. Hodgson also became known in FCK for his raw \u2013 but also familiar \u2013 tone with players, staff, chairman and board. FCK has of course developed and nuanced Hogdson\u2019s 4-4-2 game concept, but in my opinion there is no doubt that it was primarily Hodgson who changed FCK from being a mediocre team to a champion team.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngland Manager\u201d: The hottest seat in football<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, this is far from the only success that can be attributed to Roy Hodgson\u2019s career as a manager for more than four decades. Among his more \u201cdark\u201d chapters is a very short period in the autumn of 2010 as manager of one of the big clubs in British football: Liverpool F.C. Despite a 3-year contract, the relationship between Hodgson and the players, staff, board and not least fans of the LFC never worked well \u2013 the chemistry simply fit. Nor did Roy Hodgson\u2019s work as manager of the English national team in the period 2012-2016 become a real success. For any English manager, the dream job is \u201cEngland Manager\u201d, but the pressure from the media in particular on this position is relentless and at times very painful. It seems that several of the English media are still living \u201cin the shadow of\u201d the World Cup triumph at Wembley in 1966. During Hodgson\u2019s 4-year appointment as manager, England achieved its best position so far as No. 2 in the FIFA World Ranking (autumn 2013). Hodgson also manages to qualify England for both the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the European Championship 2016 in France, but both Cups were sporting failures. Expectations for the English national team were towering ahead of the 2014 World Cup, but defeats to both Italy (1-2) and Uruguay (1-2) as well as a goalless match against Costa Rica sent the nation\u2019s pride \u2013 \u201cThe Three Lions\u201d \u2013 humiliated return after that initial group stage. The results put Hodgson under tremendous pressure in the British media and among the enthusiastic \u2013 or more precisely fanatical \u2013 English fans. And with the absolute low point \u2013 the traumatic defeat of 1-2 to the \u201cmini-put nation\u201d Iceland in the round of 16 at the European Championships 2016 \u2013 Hodgson\u2019s time as manager of the English national team was over.<\/p>\n

Home to the street of childhood and the playground of youth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Due to the lack of results with the English national team, there were also many who doubted Roy Hodgson\u2019s quality as manager of the childhood club Crystal Palace F.C. when he was offered the job in September 2017. And the start as Crystal Palace manager was also anything but flashy: 7 lost matches and a goal score of 0-17. However, Hodgson had a strong belief, both in his game concept and in rock-hard work, which has always been a part of Hodgson\u2019s everyday life. Slowly \u2013 but surely \u2013 the team and Hodgson found each other. And with 44 points in the remaining 31 matches, the club achieved a form 11th place in the Premier League. It has never happened before in the history of the Premier League that a team has avoided relegation after losing the first 7 matches of the season. Hodgson\u2019s second season (2018-2019) was also a success with a 12th place and 49 points \u2013 the highest number of points the club has ever achieved. Also not in Hodgson\u2019s third season (2019-2020) was Crystal Palace with a 14th place and 43 points near relegation, which meant that Hogdson\u2019s contract with the childhood club was extended to the summer of 2021.<\/p>\n

On Saturday afternoon, the post-war and working-class boy from Croydon will once again sit at the sidelines at Selhurst Park and follow every detail \u201con the pitch\u201d \u2013 a gentleman is back in the street of childhood and on the playground of youth.<\/p>\n

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