Roy Hodgson hit back at suggestions he had proved a point to quieten his detractors, after Crystal Palace’s first victory since the start of November, 3-1 at home to Brentford.
The Palace manager had come under increased scrutiny after an eight‑match winless run, with Steve Cooper reported to be under consideration as his potential successor.
Hodgson said: “I tell you what I really think. I’m 76 years of age. I’ve been in management for 47 years. I’ve got a CBE for services to football. My answer to you is that makes no difference to me at all. To suggest that it should is disrespectful.
“I think about the match. You can’t affect the outside noise. When you’ve been in football as long as I have you understand that. My attitude is I’m employed to do a job to the best of my ability. If there are people that want me to leave the club, they can tell me.”
Palace faced an uphill challenge after Keane Lewis‑Potter scored Brentford’s fastest Premier League goal inside two minutes and Hodgson was encouraged by his team’s response. “There were several reasons [to be happy], not least we had the worst possible start. We were very conscious we needed to win. Although we hadn’t been disappointed with performances, we needed a victory.
“The way the players rallied round after that, I thought some of the attacking play was very good. We had to show our other side towards the end with the wind against us. We were thankful for the crossbar and good goalkeeping to keep us ahead. We saw both sides of the coin and had to fight hard.”
Thomas Frank remains optimistic about guiding Brentford away from trouble despite a fifth successive defeat. The head coach said: “I’m burning inside because I’ve lost a football match but I know the quality of our squad and in the short term players will start coming back. I need to remain calm and stick to what I believe in.
“That’s what I’ve done in the five years I’ve coached here. There have been a few downs but we’ve always come through in a good way.”
With Yoane Wissa heading to the Africa Cup of Nations in January with DR Congo, the importance of Ivan Toney’s return from his eight-month ban is only enhanced. Frank said: “It’s very important and the next game we don’t have Wissa. We need an offensive player. Ivan is a top player and one of our leaders.”
