Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson refuses to panic despite appearing doomed ahead of Man City trip 

Roy Hodgson - Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson refuses to panic despite appearing doomed ahead of Man City trip
Roy Hodgson takes his struggling Crystal Palace side to league leaders Manchester City on Saturday Credit: Action Images

Roy Hodgson is entitled to roll his eyes and allow himself a wry smile at talk that Crystal Palace could be doomed after five Premier League games of the season.

Indeed, Hodgson will not be panicking if, as many people expect, Palace extend their pointless streak to eight games after matches against Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Saturday’s trip to City evokes memories of one of the Premier League’s greatest-ever escapes for Hodgson and underlines why the new Palace manager has plenty of time on his side. Needing to win their final three games of the 2007-08 season to stay up, Hodgson’s Fulham appeared down and out when they trailed City by two goals with 20 minutes remaining.

But Fulham netted three late goals and won their final two fixtures to maintain their Premier League status and complete a remarkable turnaround in fortune, which gives Hodgson plenty of hope he can guide Palace up the table this season.

“We’ll have to live with people writing us off and dooming us,” said Hodgson. “Especially if these next three results don’t go our way. 

"Realistically, I can’t deny that there’s a risk of that because we are playing the top teams who are not losing to anybody, not even against the teams in their particular portion of the league. But I refuse to believe that we’re doomed.

“You’re quite right in bringing the Fulham example up in that. We were doomed, week after week. We just kept believing and, from that, the team catapulted forward.”

Other than trying to register their first point, Palace are still searching for their first Premier League goal of the season and Christian Benteke has netted just once in his last 10 appearances for the club stretching back to last term.

But Hodgson said: “Christian will score goals. It’s like all centre-forwards, Harry Kane every year gets major questions why is he not scoring in August and then all of a sudden in September he starts smashing them in from all angles. We hope that will be the same with Christian. When he gets one he will get more, I’m sure.

“If it is as simple as he needs a first goal to be the catalyst to bring more goals, you just have to keep working and hope that goal will come. There is nothing you can say that will change that. There are things you can do and we are doing what we can. He’s such a quality player, I’m sure he will score.”

Although Hodgson speaks to Benteke frequently during training, it is only the 26-year-old’s performances he is interested in.

“Judging the way he is training, judging the way he is playing, the things he is trying to do, seeing his mood which is buoyant, I would take more faith in that really than anything that he says,” said Hodgson.

“I am sure if I say to him ‘look, are you worried about not scoring goals?’ He would tell me ‘no I am not worried because that is the way it is’. Actions are everything. I am not bad with words, but I don’t believe in words very much.” 

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