Crystal Palace have cancelled manager Roy Hodgson’s scheduled press conference on Thursday with reports suggesting the former England coach is on the brink of being sacked and replaced by Oliver Glasner.
Hodgson, 76, had been due to speak to the media at 13:30 GMT – but a club statement less than 40 minutes earlier said he would not attend because he had been “taken ill” during a morning training session.
Palace face Everton at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Monday and are five points clear of the third-bottom Toffees as part of a prolonged poor run of form during Hodgson’s second spell in charge.
A run of one win in 12 matches intensified the pressure on the former Liverpool and Inter Milan coach, who has overseen thrashings by Arsenal and arch-rivals Brighton since the start of the year, as well as an FA Cup exit to Everton and a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea in his 200th match as Palace manager three days ago.
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The Eagles finished comfortably clear of relegation after Hodgson replaced Patrick Vieira in March 2023, leading to the club offering him a new one-year deal.
Oliver Glasner: New Palace manager?
Austrian coach Glasner, who has not managed since leaving Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of last season, is the favourite to take over should Hodgson depart.
The 49-year-old guided Wolfsburg to seventh and fourth-placed finishes in the Bundesliga in his first major managerial role and won the 2021/22 Uefa Europa League with Frankfurt, as well as reaching last season’s German Cup final.
Glasner has held “advanced talks” with Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman, according to the Guardian, which said chairman Steve Parish acted because of a run of four wins in 18 league games.
Unfortunately, today’s press conference will no longer take place as scheduled as Roy Hodgson was taken ill during this morning’s training session.
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) February 15, 2024
Hodgson first managed the club between 2017 and 2021, reviving a team at the foot of the table and achieving consistent mid-table finishes before leaving to take a break from football.
Speaking after Chelsea’s comeback win to beat his side, which included two goals in second-half added time, Hodgson called the result “harsh”.
“The players stood up and defended as well as they could possibly do,” he said, acknowledging his squad would need to “lift our heads”.
“I really do feel extremely sorry for them today, because to go home and have to sleep on that defeat is going to be very tough for everybody.”
