Roy Hodgson
What’s the latest injury news, if there is anything new?
No, it’s the same as before we travelled to Sheffield. James McArthur of course is still missing, Mamadou Sakho is still missing and Connor Wickham. Nathan Ferguson is back training with the team now, which is really good news, especially for him after such an enormously long lay off. But otherwise everyone is fit, so I have a good squad at the moment.
Is there any chance that Ferguson might be back in the remaining games this season?
No, I don’t think so. I think that would be very foolish after all he’s gone through to get to the stage he’s in now, with the season so close to an end and a chance to do a really good pre-season with the team and make certain that he’s 100% 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.
You’ve fulfilled the main aim this season of staying in the Premier League, but I imagine you don’t want the campaign to fizzle out?No. I don’t think anyone at this stage of the season, we’re alone in the position we find ourselves in. Most of the excitement is going to be around the third relegation place and the positions for UEFA and the Champions League. There’s a big group in the middle who probably haven’t got that much to play for, but no want wants the season to fizzle out. Every Premier League game is a big occasion. It’s very important the players understand that. They’re being watched by a lot of people, they’re being judged by a lot of people. They need to make certain the judgements are positive ones, and they can only do that by giving good performances. So I would be very disappointed if in any way we fizzle out. We have a tough programme, I have to say it’s not going to be a given that we take points willy nilly, but that’s what we’re definitely going to try and do.
Now you’re mathematically safe, will that accelerate discussions on your future and that of your players?
No, I mean I think that’s been going on basically in the background all the time anyway. I don’t think that it’s like that in football clubs that you wait for a moment in time and then suddenly you make big decisions. As far as I’m concerned, the next games we’ve got coming up are the most important things, certainly as far as my future and what I intend to do is concerned, and for the players as well. I think It’s important we keep on working towards those games because as you rightly said a minute ago, we don’t want this season to fizzle out; we don’t want bad performances and we don’t want anybody to be able to point the finger and say ‘well the performances were provoked because we have done anything to provoke them’.
Is this summer more significant for Palace than some in the recent past? There are decisions to be made.
Yeah, I understand the point you’re making. I don’t think that I could put up a big argument against what you’re saying. I can only say that I think for every club at the level of the Premier League, every summer and every transfer window, every period where you’re planning the next season is of incredible importance. But in saying that this year there will be changes in the squad, there’s no doubt about that because we are likely to lose some players, and maybe lose some players who’ve been here an awful long time. That will, I think, add a different perspective and a different dimension to this particular summer period. But the club’s in a good position to confront that. Not least of all because the successive eight seasons and leading to a ninth which is so important. But also because the team is good. We have a very good solid base here with this team. In actual fact, it would be a question of what can be done to make the existing team that bit better, it’s not as if the team in any way is danger of collapse. We’ve shown that quite comfortably I think during the course of this season.
What have you made of Southampton? Is it a big ask of your players to get a result considering the schedule you’re all on?
Yes. I mean our extra midweek fixture comes about because of the [FA Cup semi-final], there’s no doubt about that. Getting to the semi-final as Southampton did meant that they couldn’t play that day, and now we play the game midweek. But I’ve got no qualms or complaints about that, I don’t see the players in any way are showing signs that it’ll be tough or complaining. I don’t see that at all. I think that we’re going to be as tonic at the start of the game against Sheffield United. If it’s a big ask, it’s a big ask for all teams at this moment in time. I’m looking at the fixtures this week and every night there’s extra fixtures to be played, lots of travelling for the players. So no complaints at all on my part with regards to that.
UEFA are holding discussions on the Champions League final. Do you think it makes sense from a football perspective to move it from Istanbul to Wembley?
I personally don’t think it makes sense from a football perspective. It makes sense, yes, but it which case it changes everything that’s ever happened with regard to European finals, and that is a year in advance, a decision is made where the final should be held this year. Up to now, it’s never been decided at the last minute depending upon which teams have reached the final. But I do think it makes an awful lot of sense to change it on this occasion simply because of the Covid situation in Turkey and the fact that it’s on the red list, which will mean that players, staff and fans are going to find it very difficult to attend the game. So that’s where I think there is a very big argument for moving it. And of course if they are going to move it, it would make even more sense if on this occasion they move it to England where we’ve got a fantastic stadium, Wembley, and it’s two English teams in the final. But in general terms, I still respect the fact that at the start of each year, UEFA decides to choose a venue and honour a country with their venue being the one that hosts the Champions League final that year. That principle, for me, should still remain in place and shouldn’t certainly be changed every year depending upon which two teams reached the final.
You’ve been involved in European finals and European ties before – have you ever been involved in matches being moved related to anything like this?
Well, obviously Covid’s a first in my life time, let alone in my career. There’s been nothing like that. We had problems with Fulham. I think it was the quarter-final game with Hamburg where we were hit by the ash storm over Iceland. One very, very difficult journey we had to make by sea and by coach over several days to reach Hamburg and back. But that definitely affected both myself and the players because it meant that our schedule was thrown out totally by that. But apart from that, no, I mean the finals I’ve been involved in – the first final was a two-legged affair and the second was funnily enough once again in Hamburg against Atletico Madrid and by that time the ash cloud had passed by and we could fly there in normal terms.
Eze had a very good game. How have you seen him grow over the season, and how good do you think he can be?
I think that he’s had a good season, there’s no question of that. I think it’s nice that, not just on this occasion, but even on other occasions, he really has shown his skills to the utmost and everyone’s picked up on it. I’m really pleased about that. But I will be most pleased this year with the way he’s settled in, the way he’s become such a team player, the way he works very hard to absorb any tactical information and do the things that the team requires of him, apart from, of course, the mazy dribbles and the excellent ball control he’s been blessed with also. I would hope he’ll use this season to good use, take stock. He knows that he has these excellent technical abilities, he knows that he is a good player, capable of becoming a really good player at the very highest level, but there’s still a bit of learning to be done, a bit of experience to be gained. I just hope that he can produce more performances like the one he did against Sheffield at the weekend. But I hope even more that things aren’t going to be talked about or him being built up to an extent that it makes it difficult for him to continue the progress. His progress for me has been solid, it’s been there all the time. I’ve seen him getting better. We know what he can do, we know that he’s capable of what he did on Saturday against Sheffield. But I think it’s going to be a pity if all of a sudden now every time he doesn’t reach that high level, people are going to be asking questions about him, or it would be a pity if he’s not given the time to continue progressing at the pace he is progressing. Because he’s a modest young man, and I think he understands that at this stage of his life, he’s at the threshold of a fantastic career. But the threshold can sometimes be quite a long and large threshold, you don’t always step over it with one simple pace.
You’ve said before you have to be wary of Southampton’s set-piece delivery. Is that a big worry when you come up against them?
Yeah, not just them, I’m afraid quite a few teams now pose that threat. But they are exceptionally good. James Ward-Prowse has been fantastic with his ball striking. You know, the way he takes corners and free-kicks, the way he takes direct free-kicks centrally. More and more teams, I fear, have players of that sort of ability so every game you play you have to be very wary that a good ball is going to be coming in and it’s not going to be easy for us to contend with. But I can only praise him and Southampton, congratulate them on the strength of that side of their game. It’s a side of their game that’s been worked on. I’ve known James for many years and he was pretty good when he was with the Under-21s and I was with national team, but that’s five or six years now and he’s got even better since that time.
How relieved were you to secure Premier League safety?
Not really relieved, to be honest. Very happy and satisfied to pass that magical 40-point mark, but I’ve got to say that I’ve believed for a long, long time that we’ve been safe. We’ve not been in the relegation zone at all this season, in fact someone told me the other day we’ve not been in the relegation zone for the last three and a bit years – just that period of time when we found the team in the relegation zone and it took a while to move out of it. I’ve not been concerned really that relegation’s a threat for us and there’s a knife at our throat. But on the other hand, we’ve built up over the years the sort of magical 40-point mark – if you get to 40 points you’re going to be fine, and the sooner you get there, the happier you should be. So there was certainly a lot of satisfaction to win that game and see us past the mark and of course being mathematically safe is good to. But I’ve go to say even if we hadn’t been mathematically safe, with four games to go I’d have expected us to get there.
What are you demanding from your team in the last four games?
We demand always that a player – you know, we’re professionals, we have 38 games a year, plus cup games. Each and every one of those occasions is something which puts an onus on you to perform to the best of your ability. To do the job you’re paid for. If you’ve been brought in for certain skills we need to see those skills. There can’t be, in terms of our demands, any lessening than the demands we make on the players to play Southampton two days after we mathematically secure our status than in the first game of the season. Of course people are human beings, we take all that into account, we do. But in terms of our demands, our demands remain as high as they have always been throughout the season. And I hope that the players share that, because they’re proud. It’s not easy to become a Premiership player. You have to go through an awful lot of heartache and work before someone says to you ‘you are a good Premiership player’. So it’s up to them I think to make certain that every time they take the field between now and the end of the season that they give the performances they know they are capable of giving and that they know that we are actually demanding from them.
You beat Southampton 1-0 in the first game of the season. How do you approach this game eight months on?
It’s a lot to go back eight months ago. In fact I even confused these days the games played at the end of last season and the ones at the start of this season. I don’t think we’ll approach it particularly differently. We had a respect for Southampton when they came here. I remember it being a tight game and we were fortunate enough to get the goal and the three points, but it certainly wasn’t a case of outplaying them from start to finish. We know that it’s going to be equally as difficult – perhaps even slightly more difficult now – because they’ve had a good season really and it’s strange that they aren’t higher in the table. They’ve had a lot of strange results and happenings, and have been hit by injuries to key players. We have enormous respect for them, I think they’re a very good team. The manager Hasenhuttl has done an exceptional job and if we’re going to go there and win, we’re going to have to play very well.
Have you got any injury updates?
I didn’t mention McArthur last time out which is a massive miss because he’s such an important player to us. A player for whom I’ve got so much admiration and affection. I suppose I’m a bit disappointed that we’ve not been able to use him for quite a long time now and I’ve sort of numbed myself into accepting it’s not happening. McArthur really is the most important of players we have missing because he was actually a key member of our team up to five or six weeks ago when he got the injury, and we haven’t seen him since. When it comes to Nathan Ferguson, we haven’t seen him for 18 months, and when it comes to Mamadou Sakho we haven’t seen since January.
Would you say it’s been a harder season than before?
It’s been harder I think because of Covid. Not necessarily been harder in terms of the performances you’ve needed to produce. We probably have had several situations this year where we’ve lost key players. We had Sakho and Tomkins out basically the whole of the season. We had Wilf out for a long period, Schlupp out for a long period, and now McArthur out for a long period. These are all key players in our set up. In that respect it’s probably been a bit harder as well. Although I can’t when I cast my mind back give you a root and branch explanation of who was missing two years ago. It melts into my mind. I think Covid has made it much harder for everyone. I think it’s been a tough season for every club this season because playing as we’ve done in these surreal circumstances behind close doors has made extra demands on everybody and we’ve missed the lifeblood of our sport, the lifeblood which is provided by the fans and their support. The tension, the excitement, the inspiration. We’ve missed all of that and we’ve had to somehow generate it from within. I personally am full of admiration for the Premier League and everyone connected with them in the way they’ve covered that during this period. They’ve kept football alive and kept so many people happy that football’s alive. Because we provide a very important area of entertainment for them at a time in which there hasn’t been a lot of entertainment.
How have you generated that energy from within? You won’t have been able to meet with your family, like anyone else…
Well I live a hermit-like existence, so probably not the best person to ask that question. Our son lives abroad and we see him as much as we can but that’s always been limited for a large number of years now. Especially when he was living in America because it’s not like popping down the road and jumping in the car to go and see him. My wife and I basically live a very quiet life. Certainly my life has for as long as I can remember been dedicated to football and the job I’m doing. From a personal basis, I haven’t really suffered that much at all, it’s been quite easy for me to continue generating any energy I could possibly generate because I’ve been more than happy with my life and I haven’t suffered any moments when I’ve been concerned about what’s going on. But I do think the question’s a valid one. I think for a lot of people they could actually relate much more to what it’s cost them during this period. I, by contrast, am grateful that football has continued, that the Premier League has continued, that my life has continued pretty much as normal. I unfortunately have had to miss out on a few things I’d quite like to have done, but I must say to suggest that a hardship – that would be really stretching the point.
You’re safe now, near the end of the season. Will you be letting people know about your future soon?
Well I don’t think any information I impart would be world-shattering anyway, for the first part. Secondly, as I’ve said all along, I want to finish the season well, I want to make certain that we don’t want in any way do anything that would affect our chances of playing well and doing well in the final games. Let’s get those games done and then there’s plenty of time to give answers to any particular questions I would give. But I’m not prepared to do it at this moment in time because as I say there are more important things on the horizon for me, namely Southampton tomorrow night and followed up by the visit of Aston Villa.
It looks like Fulham are going down. Is it harder for clubs who get promoted to stay up now? Is it easier for teams already in the league to stay there?
Again a difficult question. You and people around you will have a lot of statistics with regard to that going back about 10 years and I don’t always have that at hand. I have to trust my memory, which can be a bit dangerous. I think there’s been a few occasions where Fulham have been up and down a couple of times, certainly Norwich and certainly West Brom. It’s certainly not an unusual occurrence. I think it’s getting harder with teams that come up. OK, you can say that West Brom and Fulham have gone down, and I think they’ve played some very good football and have done some very good things. You can make the point I’m certain that a bit of ill fortune here and there, we, who have survived would have to say there but for the grace of God go I. I don’t think it’s going to get any easier for teams in the league who are perhaps in that bottom half of the table where relegation is always a possibility. The league gets stronger, especially at the top. It’s harder and harder for us bottom half teams to compete with the top six or seven teams in the country. The teams who come up are organised have good players and invest – let’s be honest you can never accuse Fulham of not investing, just as you can never accuse West Bromwich Albion of never investing to stay up. We’re aware in our position of staying up for a ninth season, that is great. But a lot of work still needs to be done. We must never for one minute take anything for granted and just believe that nine seasons will definitely lead to a tenth. As for Fulham, their situation is not so different to the situation where I found myself with the team in 2008. I think we took 12 points from the last 15 to stay up that year – were written off many times in the weeks before. We were two down at half-time at Manchester City and we’d have been mathematically incapable of staying up. I’m hoping that the club hasn’t lost heart, hoping that they’ll go out tonight and win the game to keep themselves in with a shout, at least. Because you can’t disassociate yourself with those two-and-a-half years I had with Fulham, which were fantastic years for me. You always leave a part of your heart behind at all of the clubs where you work.
Will there be much squad rotation tomorrow given the match comes so quickly after Saturday?
Yeah, we’ll have to think about the quick turnaround, there’s no doubt about that. There might be players we need to assess tomorrow and check that playing another game so close to the last one is a good idea or not. But in answer to your question, I don’t intend to make wholesale changes. We want to finish the season well. I’m anxious to keep putting what I think is the best team we can put out on the day onto the field to win the game. So it’s certainly not going to be a case for me of saying, ‘right, we’re now past 40 points, we now can’t be caught mathematically, this is a time to hand out free passes to players’. I’ve got 22 players who are all available and ready, and they all want to play. The ones I take out who’ve been playing in place of someone else aren’t going to be happy because they want to play too. As far as I’m concerned there’s not going to be any free passes. It’ll be if we need to change anybody to give them a rest because we think that it could be a danger playing two matches so close together. I’ll do that. But other than that it won’t be wholesale changes.
You said that Nathan Ferguson won’t be back this season. Is that the same sort of situation for Connor Wickham and the others as well?
Connor I don’t know. I would doubt Connor will recover. It’s a muscle injury, pretty unlikely he’ll recover. James Tomkins: I think he could possibly be involved, Nathaniel Clyne the same. They would be OK if I needed them to go in, in spite of having missed a number of weeks. And Nathan Ferguson is now training, he’s done two sessions with the first team where he’s been cleared by all the things the sports science and medical people require today to say to us the coaching staff: “OK, he’s fine, he can train, you don’t have to try and look after him. Just put him in and use him.” He’s had two sessions like that. So the thought of possibly throwing him in for the last two weeks of the season when he hasn’t played for the 18 months would have been absolutely crazy to contemplate. He’s got to get through these next two weeks of training, finish the season on that training field training every day with the team as we leave to go up to Liverpool, and then prepare as well to get a really good pre-season to make certain that when next season begins he is available for us. That’s what’s got to happen. He understands that, that’s his goal, that’s his aim, and at the moment – looking at him out there – I see no reason why he’s not going to achieve that goal.
