It was not long ago that Roy Hodson was described as “undervalued” as the former Liverpool and England boss was praised for his ability to restore his reputation to his post Three Lions status with boyhood club Crystal Palace.
However, it appears that the manager’s powers to prevent the Eagles from succumbing to their chronic lack of investment, having made a profit of £43.07m in the transfer market this season, are dwindling. Defeat to Everton at the weekend epitomised the contrasting fortunes of the two sides, with the Toffees having lost just once in their last 11 Premier League games, while the Eagles have only one win in that period.
In total, Hodgson’s side have accumulated nine points from their last 11 Premier League fixtures, slumping from an impressive seventh in the table after 15 games, to 14th, with rivals Brighton and Hove Albion three points behind with a game in hand. Crystal Palace’s current form stinks of relegation, and they are steadily being sucked into a battle they have looked like avoiding for much of the season.
However, what should be more concerning to the former England manager at the helm of the south London club is that they are on a winless run of seven games, during which they have picked up four points – the lowest amount in the Premier League during that period. While they have scored six goals during their winless run (a reasonable total considering the Eagles have found the back of the net just 23 times this campaign), it is their failure to keep a clean sheet during that period which marks a stark contrast to earlier on in the season.
Hodgson’s side have failed to shut the opposition out this year, and last achieved the feat against Watford on December 7th – 11 matches ago. Before their awful run of form, Vicente Guaita was producing show-stopping performances, racing to six Premier League clean sheets for the season. But in the past ten games, he has conceded an average of 1.4 goals per game.
While it was always possible Hodgson’s side would revert to the mean after a fantastic start to the campaign, the Crystal Palace boss should be concerned about the implications of their current run. It is the wrong time for their form to drop off a cliff with the Eagles just six points above the drop while West Ham in 18th have a game in hand.
